HAMPIONSHIP DOUBLEHEADER HEADLINES HISTORIC UFC® PAY-PER-VIEW AT SPHERE
MARKING FIRST LIVE SPORTS EVENT AT THE IMMERSIVE VENUE
FEATURED BOUTS:
(C) SEAN O’MALLEY vs. (#1) MERAB DVALISHVILI
(C) ALEXA GRASSO vs. (#1) VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO
RIYADH SEASON NOCHE UFC®: O’MALLEY vs. DVALISHVILI PRESENTED BY BUD LIGHT®
TICKETS ON SALE WEDNESDAY, JULY 31
UFC® celebrates Mexican Independence Day with a once-in-a-lifetime event at Sphere in Las Vegas, headlined by two blockbuster world championship bouts. UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley collides with surging No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili, plus, UFC flyweight champion Alexa Grasso runs it back with former titleholder Valentina Shevchenko.
RIYADH SEASON NOCHE UFC®: O’MALLEY vs. DVALISHVILI PRESENTED BY BUD LIGHT® takes place Saturday, Sept. 14 at Sphere in Las Vegas with the main card at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on ESPN+ PPV. The prelims will be available on ESPNEWS and ESPN Deportes, as well as simulcast in English and Spanish on ESPN+, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The night’s action will start at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT with the first fight on ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ (English and Spanish).
Tickets for RIYADH SEASON NOCHE UFC®: O’MALLEY vs. DVALISHVILI PRESENTED BY BUD LIGHT® will go on sale Wednesday, July 31 at 10 a.m. PT and are available for purchase at Ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets Monday, July 29 at 10 a.m. PT via the website UFCFightClub.com. A special Internet ticket pre-sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Tuesday, July 30 starting at 10 a.m. PT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com.
Riyadh Season Noche UFC, the first live sports event to take place at Sphere, will utilize the venue’s next-generation technologies. This includes Sphere’s 160,000 sq. ft. and 16K x 16K resolution interior display plane – the world’s highest resolution LED display – that wraps up, over, and around the audience creating a fully immersive visual environment; the world’s most advanced concert-grade audio system, Sphere Immersive Sound, powered by HOLOPLOT, which delivers audio with unmatched clarity and precision to every guest; and the venue’s haptic seats, so fans can “feel” the experience.
No. 6 men’s pound-for-pound fighter O’Malley (18-1 1NC, fighting out of Phoenix, Ariz.) looks to continue his reign atop the bantamweight division. Among the biggest stars in MMA, he has delivered thrilling KO victories against Aljamain Sterling, Thomas Almeida and Eddie Wineland. O’Malley now plans to stop Dvalishvili’s momentum to secure his second successful title defense.
Dvalishvili (17-4, fighting out of Long Island, N.Y. by way of Tbilisi, Georgia) hopes to achieve his dream of capturing UFC gold by securing his 11th consecutive win. A relentless competitor, he holds victories over former UFC champions Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Jose Aldo. Dvalishvili now aims to dethrone O’Malley and become Georgia’s second UFC champion.
No. 1 women’s pound-for-pound fighter Grasso (16-3-1, fighting out of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) plans to defend her flyweight championship in dominant fashion. Currently riding a six-fight unbeaten streak, she also holds memorable wins over Viviane Araujo, Joanne Wood and Maycee Barber. Grasso now intends to steal the show by once again finishing Shevchenko.
Shevchenko (23-4-1, fighting out of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan) is determined to reclaim her spot atop the 125-pound ladder. Among the greatest fighters in UFC history, she has earned spectacular finishes over Julianna Pena, Jessica Andrade and Jessica Eye. Shevchenko now has her sights set on dethroning Grasso with another highlight-reel performance.
Additional bouts on the card include:
- No. 3 ranked featherweight contender Brian Ortega (15-3 1NC, fighting out of Los Angeles, Calif.) battles rising No. 12 Diego Lopes (24-6, fighting out of Puebla, México by way of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil)
- Raul Rosas Jr. (9-1, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev.) takes on Aoriqileng (25-10 1NC, fighting out of Shanghai, China) in an exciting bantamweight bout
- No. 4 bantamweight contender and former title challenger Irene Aldana (15-7, fighting out of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico) faces No. 10 Norma Dumont (11-2, fighting out of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
- Manuel Torres (15-2, fighting out of Tijuana, Mexico) goes for his seventh consecutive win when he meets Ignacio Bahamondes (15-5, fighting out of Chicago, Ill. by way of Santiago, Chile) at lightweight
- Daniel Zellhuber (15-1, fighting out of Mexico City, Mexico) goes for his fourth consecutive win when he locks horns with Esteban Ribovics (13-1, fighting out of Cordoba, Argentina) at lightweight
- Edgar Chairez (11-5 1NC, fighting out of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico) looks to build off his recent victory when he takes on Kevin Borjas (9-3, fighting out of Lima, Peru) at flyweight
- Ronaldo Rodriguez (17-2, fighting out of Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico) squares off with Ode’ Osbourne (12-7 1NC, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev. by way of Milwaukee, Wisc.) in a flyweight bout
- Yazmin Jauregui (11-1, fighting out of Tijuana, Mexico) meets Ketlen Souza (14-4, fighting out of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil) at strawweight
For the latest information on additional bouts for this event, please visit www.ufc.com. All bouts are live and subject to change.
About UFC®
UFC® is the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization (MMA), with more than 700 million fans and 283 million social media followers. The organization produces more than 40 live events annually in some of the most prestigious arenas around the world while broadcasting to over 975 million households across more than 170 countries. UFC’s athlete roster features the world’s best MMA athletes representing more than 75 countries. The organization’s digital offerings include UFC FIGHT PASS®, one of the world’s leading streaming services for combat sports. UFC is part of TKO Group Holdings (NYSE: TKO) and is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC and @UFC on X, Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok: @UFC.
About Sphere
Sphere is a next-generation entertainment medium that is redefining the future of live entertainment. A venue where the foremost artists, creators, and technologists create extraordinary experiences that take storytelling to a new level and transport audiences to places both real and imagined. The venue hosts original Sphere Experiences from leading Hollywood directors; concerts and residencies from the world’s biggest artists; and premier marquee events. The first Sphere venue opened in Las Vegas in September 2023, and is a new Las Vegas landmark, powered by cutting-edge technologies that ignite the senses and enable audiences to share experiences at a never-before-seen scale. More information is available at thesphere.com.
About ESPN+
https://espnpressroom.com/us/espnplus/
About ESPN
ESPN, the world’s leading sports entertainment brand, features eight U.S. television networks, direct-to-consumer ESPN+, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, endeavors on every continent around the world, and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.