Sean O’Malley wants to be the next Conor McGregor? He needs to prove he can step up to the plate and deliver. Again.

Much of the talk ahead of Saturday’s UFC 306 card at the Sphere in Las Vegas has focused on O’Malley potentially ascending to another level of stardom if he successfully defends his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili. The seemingly indomitable challenger has the makings of a dynasty, with nonstop cardio, an iron will and a relentless wrestling attack that seems tailor-made to nullify what O’Malley does best.

Like McGregor, O’Malley has faced a lot of criticism since being dubbed the next big star by none other than Snoop Dogg after he was fired. Dana White‘s Contender series in 2017. But McGregor was egged on by the doubters and, much to their frustration, he silenced them time and time again with breakthrough victories over Chad Mendes, Jose Aldo, Eddie Alvarez and his two-fight rival Nate Diaz.

Simply put, when the spotlight was on McGregor, he shone consistently. O’Malley seems to be following the same path, but Dvalishvili could overshadow him with one impressive night at the office.

Alexa Grasso is also eager to answer the question of whether she deserves to be recognized as the undisputed ruler of the 125-pound division.

She defeated Valentina Shevchenko once, but when Grasso had a chance to consolidate her position, their fierce revenge match was marred by a dubious score in the last round, resulting in a draw.

Grasso and Shevchenko are so evenly matched that it’s entirely possible that Saturday’s co-main event will leave us with more questions than answers. As fans, we can only hope that we get a decisive finish this time around, even if the rivalry itself isn’t over yet.

In another main event, two-time featherweight challenger Brian Ortega takes on the fast-rising Diego Lopes, promising lightweight Daniel Zellhuber battles Esteban Ribovics and flyweights Ronaldo Rodriguez and Ode Osbourne look to open the main event with a highlight.

What: UFC-306

Where: Atmosphere in Las Vegas

When: Saturday, September 14. The five-fight preliminary round begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNews and ESPN+, followed by the five-fight main event at 10 p.m. ET, exclusively on ESPN+ pay-per-view.

(The numbers in brackets indicate the position Global MMA Fighting Rankings And Pound-for-pound rankingings)

Sean O’Malley (1, P4P-12) vs Merab Dvalishvili (2, P4P-20)

Before I make my official choice for Dvalishvili, I want to say that I know that all the reasons I choose the challenger to beat Sean O’Malley, also applied to Aljamain Sterling when he lost the bantamweight title to O’Malley. I completely understand what I’m getting into.

And so… Merab Dvalishvili is just going to wrestle O’Malley hard, right?

For whatever reason, Sterling never got his grappling going against O’Malley and that proved to be his undoing as he was clipped and put away in the second round. Was it a bad plan? O’Malley’s great movement? Arrogance? We’ll never know. What I do know is that Aljo’s buddy won’t fall into the same trap.

He’s going to shoot early and often, he’s going to shoot late and often. He’s going to be on O’Malley as Jon Jones is on Twitter when Tom Aspinall gets the least praise: relentless, annoying and a little bit crazy.

What makes this choice less obvious is that O’Malley—despite all the assumptions that he’s just a striker with no ground game—wasn’t exactly dismantled by wrestling. Petr Yan neutralized him for parts of their fight, but couldn’t do much offensively with the control. Raulian Paiva never got a chance to show his jiu-jitsu. And Sterling, well, we’ve already had that weirdness.

And Dvalishvili gets punched! He’s a pressure fighter extraordinaire, but sometimes that means he just has to wade through punches. Has he ever fought someone with O’Malley’s speed, power, and accuracy on his feet (sadly, I can’t count out a late 30-year-old Jose Aldo, as much as I’d like to)? Even the best chin crumbles when he lands a perfectly placed punch right away.

I’ve seen Dvalishvili struggle to victory too many times to write him off just yet, so I’ll go with my gut and expect to see “And New” written across the walls of the Sphere in giant, blinding letters.

Dvalishvili by decision.

Choice: Dvalishvili

Alexa Grasso (1, P4P-2) vs Valentina Shevchenko (2, P4P-3)

Seriously, how can you tell these two apart after a pair of fights that were decided the first time around by a misstep and a weird scorecard? I’ve watched Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko fight for nearly 45 minutes (more if you count replays) and it’s impossible to tell who’s better. We’re talking inches of difference when it comes to their striking, wrestling, and whatever other skills you consider when comparing fighters.

In theory, this is Grasso’s fight to lose. She’s younger, she’s coming off a submission win over Shevchenko, and you could argue she’s 2-0 in the series. But aside from a few costly mistakes, there’s little sign that “Bullet” has slowed down from the height of her championship run.

Watch those fights again. There were times when Shevchenko outboxed Grasso, threatened submissions and led the dance. At the same time, Grasso had plenty of decisive strikes of her own and you could argue that she had the most devastating sequences of both fights (the submission in the fourth round, the knockdown in round 1 of the rematch and then the concluding ground-and-pound flurry in the final minute of the rematch).

I scored the second game for Grasso, so as far as I’m concerned she has Shevchenko’s number. At least that’s what I tell myself to get through this choice without my brain spinning in another circle.

Grasso by decision.

Choice: Grass

Brian Ortega (5) vs Diego Lopes (14)

Somehow, a decade into his UFC career, Brian Ortega is still running the same script. That is, he loses a fight until he doesn’t.

Against the highly skilled Diego Lopes, that strategy will ultimately fail. Like many of Ortega’s opponents, Lopes would have to train Ortega on the feet and he has more than enough wrestling skills in his bag to slow down and perhaps even outpace Ortega’s always exciting ground game. The 145-pound division is no country for old men (with the exception of Max Holloway, and even he has a run-in with Father Time when he fights Ilia Topuria in October) and Lopes is in his prime, while Ortega looks like he’s getting on in years. Add to that the fact that Ortega already has his eye on the 155-pound division and you can see why I’m leaning the other way.

Ortega is tough to finish, so I don’t expect Lopes to be the first to submit him or hand him a knockout loss. Expect the player-coach to make a comfortable decision before hopping in the shower and coming out for the co-main event to corner Grasso.

Choice: lopes

Esteban Ribovics vs Daniel Zellhuber

At 6’5” and only 25 years old, Daniel Zellhuber has the makings of a lightweight contender, as long as he makes the cut and keeps his head in the game. He has a lot to learn, but he has physical gifts and finishing instincts that can’t be taught.

With an upgrade in competition in the UFC, it is understandable that Zellhuber has shown some flaws here and there. Defense must be learned and Zellhuber has definitely learned that the hard way, as he has been blown out in a few of his fights.

The key to beating a tall fighter like Zellhuber is to catch him off guard, something Esteban Ribovics is more than capable of. He’s a confident puncher who throws with volume, and he’ll likely get Zellhuber in early. Ribovics is a near 2-to-1 underdog, so you know he’ll be eager to spoil the party for the Mexican fans in attendance.

I would like to see Zellhuber use his long limbs more to wrestle, which could be the key to putting Ribovics down. Neither man has ever been finished, but I think Zellhuber can surprise Ribovics in the second half of the fight by mixing in takedowns to wear him down.

It’s a gamble, but I’m going for Zellhuber.

Choice: Zellhuber

Ode Osbourne to Ronaldo Rodriguez

Ode Osbourne rightly says that he is not an easy target for Ronaldo Rodriguez and makes him a crowd favourite, but the reality is that Rodriguez can dodge a choke well and that is one of Osbourne’s weaknesses.

This fight will be exciting while it lasts and Rodriguez will definitely need to be on guard defensively if he doesn’t want to add to Osbourne’s list of quick finishes. The opening will be to take Osbourne down and if he does, a submission finish should quickly follow.

Rodriguez tags out Osbourne in the first inning.

Choice: Rodriguez

Preliminary rounds

Irene Aldana (6) defeats. Norma Dumont (12)

Manuel Torres defeats. Ignacio Bahamondes

Yazmin Jauregui def. Ketel Souza

Joshua Van defeats Edgar Chairez

Raul Rosas Jr. def. Aoriqileng