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Brian Ortega is ready to stay busy and do so in a higher-weight class if necessary.

Everyone was looking forward to the intriguing stylistic clash between Ortega and the rising Mexican contender, Diego Lopes, at UFC 303 in June 2024. Unfortunately, an illness prevented the two-time title challenger from making the walk and led to an unprecedented short-notice replacement from their fellow contender, Dan Ige.

The fight has been rebooked and will take place on an arguably bigger and better inside the Las Vegas Sphere at Noche UFC’s UFC 306 this weekend (Sat., Sept. 14, 2024). Despite the pivotal 145-pound match up still on tap, Ortega’s intentions to move up in weight haven’t wavered.

“1000 percent [Lightweight is the goal],” Ortega said at UFC 306 media day. “Because you got [Ilia] Topuria and Max [Holloway] fighting in October then after that you have whatever date they decide on next year to fight. So, it’s like a line to fight for the belt, and depending on how this fight goes this weekend it’s gonna determine whether the fans believe that I deserve another shot or not. Either or, my goal is to stay busy and if there’s nothing for me in the Featherweight division then I’ll move up.”

Lopes, 29, defeated Ige via a unanimous decision at UFC 303 in replacement of Ortega at UFC 303. “T-City” last fought when he earned a third round arm triangle choke in his rematch with Yair Rodriguez at UFC Mexico in February 2024 (watch highlights).

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 306 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 306 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 306: “O’Malley vs. Dvalishvili” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 306 fight card and PPV lineup click here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

On the third episode of UFC 306 Embedded, bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley spends some time with his daughter before heading to Las Vegas, Merab Dvalishvili gets some work in outside, Daniel Zellhuber puts in his final training session, Raul Rosas Jr. does media, Ode Osbourne checks in, Brian Ortega chats with Aljamain Sterling, Valentina Shevchenko gets dialed in, plus more.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 306 takes place this weekend at Sphere in Las Vegas, headlined by a bantamweight title fight between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili and also featuring a women’s flyweight championship trilogy bout between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko. It’s an event that UFC CEO Dana White promised will be ‘the greatest live sporting event of all time,’ so No Bets Barred returns to break it all down.

It’s a new era of No Bets Barred with Connor Burks moving on from MMA Fighting, and this week host Jed Meshew is joined by Alexander K. Lee to dive into all things UFC 306, AKA Noche UFC. Topics discussed this week include Jed and AK going head-to-head in their UFC Fantasy league with opposite sides on the main event, Valentina Shevchenko’s chances to finally get past Alexa Grasso, whether or not Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes will even happen, plus a few moonshot bets from AK if you’re really feeling frisky.

All that and more on this week’s episode.

Tune in for episode 100 of No Bets Barred.

New episodes of the No Bets Barred podcast drop every Wednesday and are available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever else you find your favorite podcasts. The latest episode can be heard below.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Sean O’Malley is anxiously awaiting his chance to ascend to the top spot in the UFC hierarchy with plans to supplant Conor McGregor sooner than later as the biggest superstar in the company.

As he prepares to headline the historic UFC 306 card from Sphere in Las Vegas — an event UFC CEO Dana White has repeatedly stated is a one and done after spending more than $ 20 million on production — O’Malley knows all eyes are going to be on him come Saturday night. Ever since his viral performance on The Contender Series, O’Malley has continued to grow and evolve as a fan favorite with his popularity truly exploding over these past few years.

Meanwhile, McGregor hasn’t fought in over three years after suffering a broken leg in his last outing, and there’s still no official word when he might fight again, although early 2025 is the latest estimation. Of course, O’Malley has no problem conceding that McGregor remains the biggest draw in the UFC right now but he expects that to change with one more bad result for the former two-division champion.

“I think I’m very close,” O’Malley said about becoming the biggest star in the UFC during UFC 306 media day on Wednesday. “I think Conor’s still got one more big fight in him because of the big question mark — can Conor come back, can he actually beat [Michael] Chandler? So I think Conor’s got one more huge fight.”

With a 1-3 record in his past four fights and a huge amount of inactivity on top of returning from such a devastating injury, McGregor has a lot to prove when he finally competes again.

Add to that, he’s also 36 now so youth is no longer on his side.

O’Malley can’t help but wonder if another loss wouldn’t just hammer that final nail into McGregor’s coffin as the biggest superstar on the entire UFC roster.

“If he goes out there and loses his next fight, it will be like six in a row,” O’Malley said. “It’s got to die down eventually. Maybe not. That just tests how big of a star he is, but I would assume he goes out there, he loses, I’m there. I’m the guy. I’m the No. 1.”

As far as what separates him from McGregor in terms of overall appeal with fans, O’Malley didn’t mince words with his availability to stay active versus “The Notorious” only competing four times in the UFC since 2016.

Meanwhile, O’Malley is preparing for his 16th professional fight during that same timespan with his third title bout scheduled in the past 13 months.

“I bring fights,” O’Malley said when differentiating himself from McGregor. “I fight. Often. I think that’s what it is right now.

“Conor was good on the mic, the accent, the words that he chose, he was very good on the mic. Performances, he had a couple good performances, but I’m just consistent right now. I’m fighting a lot. That’s what I bring.”

O’Malley obviously hopes to bring another jaw-dropping performance on Saturday in the second defense of his UFC bantamweight title when he faces Merab Dvalishvili.

The colorful champion has promised to deliver a stunning finish, which would only further cement his standing as perhaps the new face of the UFC>

“It could be first [round], could be second,” O’Malley predicted for his finish at UFC 306. “I could knock out Merab first, second, third, fourth or fifth. But I am leaning towards the second a little bit.”

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