Cruel Irony as Mexican Fighters go 1-6 at UFC 306

The stars did not align for UFC's Mexican Independence Day celebration.
UFC

Despite being a celebration of Mexican Independence, Mexican-born fighters prospered the least at Noche UFC 2 (UFC 306) on September 14, going 1-6 across the card.

The ten-fight card at Sphere Las Vegas culminated in two eventful title fights, one of which saw Mexican-born champ Alexa Grasso lose her flyweight title in a trilogy against Valentina Shevchenko.

On the prelims, Edgar Chairez lost a narrow decision to Joshua Van in a three-round war. This was followed by Yazmin Jauregui getting choked unconscious by Ketlen Souza.

Ignacio Bahamondes then floored Manuel Torres with a picture-perfect right hand in the next fight, doubling it up to secure a TKO in the first round.

In the featured prelim, Norma Dumont soundly defeated Irene Aldana, handing her one of the most gruesome cuts in recent UFC memory.

Kicking off the main card, hot-headed Ronaldo Rodriguez picked up the only victory for team Mexico with a contentious decision victory over Ode Osbourne. Rodriguez was almost put to sleep via strikes and submission in the opening seconds.

'Golden Boy' Daniel Zellhuber then lost a closely contested decision against Argentina's Esteban Ribovics. Between them, they produced one of the best fights of the year.

Finally, Alexa Grasso was dominated by Valentina Shevchenko in their co-main trilogy fight, losing her title in the process.

MMA can be brutal, which was apparent at UFC 306. The promotion invested tens of millions into the Sphere venue to celebrate Mexican Independence, only for many of its core demographic fighters to lose. Nevertheless, the venue was one of the most spectacular settings in combat sports history.

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Mathew Riddle
MATHEW RIDDLE

Mathew is a UK-based combat sports journalist  and graphic designer. He joined MMAKO when it was first founded in 2023. Find his work on The Fight Fanatic & Heavy on UFC. He can be contacted on mr@thefightfanatic.com