Is UFC 306 at The Sphere going to be the biggest event yet? The answer is yes as per the CEO Dana White as he recently revealed, “When I say that I’m going to put on the greatest live sporting event in the history of combat sports, maybe in sports, period. I’m going in one night, one time, never again.” Despite often talking about the grandeur of the event, White refused to let the details out regarding the fight match-ups. However, the secret is already out in the form of leaks. As per the speculations, the main card will feature featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, defending his title for the first time against the current BMF champion Max Holloway.

There is, however, another leaked information that the event will see bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley against Merab Dvalishvili. Should the current plans go through, the Bantamweight Gold will be on the line at the iconic Sphere during the Noche UFC event. Are the rumors true? A UFC insider finally answered the much-awaited question. 

UFC veteran revealed the secret of Sean O’Malley’s status for UFC Noche

In a recent episode of the ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ podcast, Chael Sonnen revealed that he knew what was up with Sean O’Malley and whether he was fighting in UFC 306. While speaking to Daniel Cormier, the UFC veteran claimed, “Now I happened to speak to Timbo who is the trainer of Sean O’Malley, last week, he told me that they are training for The Sphere. He did not confirm that the fight was on. He said we have reason to believe and we are taking it seriously and we are training.”

White already declared that this was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime event that was never going to be repeated. The event that was rebranded as Noche UFC is going to be massive according to the UFC boss and he already has invested more than $16 million. The full fight card has yet to be revealed, but the head honcho did confirm that there might be 10 fights for the pay-per-view event. While fans are already busy speculating about ‘Suga’, there is also another piece of news that Max Holloway vs Ilia Topuria is going to happen at UFC 306. 

Sonnen reflected on that as well, saying, “I do wanna address what you said though because Dana put something else out. Max Holloway vs Ilia Topuria. It is one of the worst kept secrets in our sport but it hasn’t been announced. We all believed and operated on that.”

There was footage that was leaked where UFC’s French Canadian broadcaster had accidentally revealed about this fight card.

Is Ilia Topuria vs Max Holloway happening?

The French Canadian broadcasters had stated, “In September, it is going to be quite an event. Noche UFC, on September 14th inside The Sphere, Las Vegas. … Ilia Topuria versus Max Holloway for the featherweight championship.” However, it is still not confirmed by Dana White. If this fight card happens, then the boss will be giving the fans the dream fight that they always wanted to witness.

‘El Matador’ was not willing to fight against Holloway, as he believed that at 32, he wasn’t a match for him. He also accused his opponent of delaying the fight and Holloway was not silent after this. He wrote on X, “Guy is just making things up at this stage, I have been ready.” Meanwhile, now it looks like the fight might finally happen and if they do lock horns next in September, the featherweight title is in the limelight.

Veterans and fighters alike have already started speculating who might be winning this fight if it takes place. One of them is Henry Cejudo, who thinks Max Holloway can defeat Topuria. The UFC World is once again in a frenzy over the new event while speculations are still on about the main card and the mid-cards. If the rumors are true, who do you think is going to win between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili? Let us know in the comments below.