Watch Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili
Watch UFC on ESPN Plus in the US
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Watch Sean O’Malley vs. Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 306
Watch UFC on Kayo in Australia
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The UFC makes its debut at The Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, with a headline fight that sees Sean O’Malley place his bantamweight title on the line against Merab Dvalishvili.
O’Malley comes into this fight off the back of avenging his only career defeat, having beaten Marlon “Chito” Vera in his first title defense in UFC 299.
He now takes on Georgian grappler Dvalishvili, who is on a seemingly unstoppable streak of 10 straight wins with former champions José Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo all falling victim to the 33-year-old.
The bill also boasts a strong support act, with Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko facing off in a trilogy fight for the women’s flyweight title.
Catch all the action live from Nevada by following our guide to watching UFC 306 no matter where in the world you are.
This weekend’s card, which includes Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili’s title fight, is being billed as Noche UFC 306 because it falls on Mexican Independence Day weekend.
UFC 306 Start time
The UFC 302 main card gets going at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on Saturday, Sept. 14. Here are all the details for multiple time zones.
US and Canada
- The main card starts Sept. 14, 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT).
- The prelims start Sept. 14, 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).
- The early prelims start Sept. 14, 7:30 p.m. ET (4:30 p.m. PT).
UK
- The main card starts Sept. 15, 3 a.m. BST.
- The prelims start Sept. 15, 1 a.m. BST.
- The early prelims start Sept. 15, 12:30 a.m. BST.
Australia
- The main card starts Sept. 15, 12 p.m. AEST.
- The prelims start Sept. 15, 10 a.m. AEST.
- The early prelims start Sept. 15, 9:30 a.m. AEST.
Main event start time
It’s hard to say exactly when the main event will take place, but if you’re looking to only watch the fight between O’Malley and Dvalishvili, ring walks will start no earlier than 1 a.m. ET (8 p.m. PT).
How to watch UFC 306 in the US
The UFC has a long-running partnership with ESPN. That’s great news for the UFC and the expansion of the sport of MMA, but bad news for the consumer choice of US UFC fans.
In the US, if you want to watch UFC 306, you’ll find the fight night only on pay-per-view through ESPN Plus. The cost structure is a bit confusing, but here are the options to watch UFC on ESPN, according to ESPN’s site:
- Existing annual ESPN Plus subscribers can order the upcoming UFC card for $80.
- New ESPN Plus subscribers can buy a bundle of UFC 306 PPV event (streaming in HD) and an ESPN Plus annual recurring subscription for $135. This is a decent deal. The ESPN Plus annual ESPN subscription will auto-renew after one year, at the price of an ESPN Plus annual subscription at the time of auto-renewal.
You can do all of the above at the link below.
MMA fans in the UK can watch all the action from Nevada via TNT Sport and the surprisingly good news is that, unlike some UFC events on the network, this event won’t be PPV.
TNT Sports is the exclusive UK broadcaster for all numbered UFC events in the UK. You can access TNT Sports in exactly the same way as its predecessor BT Sport, including via Sky Q as a TV package, as well as the option of streaming online. It costs £30 either way and comes in a package that includes Discovery Plus’ library of documentary content.
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The logo for UK TV broadcaster TNT Sports.
TNT Sports
You can watch UFC 306 through Main Event on Foxtel. That means you can also watch online via sports streaming service Kayo for AU$60.
You can check out the PPV on Kayo in Australia.
UFC 306’s main card is available to watch through a variety of PPV providers, including cable operators such as Bell, Rogers and Shaw, as well as streaming services such as DAZN, Sportsnet Plus and UFC Fight Pass. Whichever option you opt for, it’s a PPV fee of CA$70 across the board.
It’s also worth noting that early prelims will be available to stream via UFC Fight Pass, while the event’s Prelims will be shown on Sportsnet and TVA Sports.
Main card
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Sean O’Malley (C) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (men’s bantamweight title)
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Alexa Grasso (C) vs. Valentina Shevchenko 3 (women’s flyweight title)
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Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes (featherweight)
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Daniel Zellhuber vs. Esteban Ribovics (lightweight)
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Ronaldo Rodriguez vs. Ode’ Osbourne (flyweight)
Prelims
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Irene Aldana vs. Norma Dumont (women’s bantamweight)
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Manuel Torres vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (lightweight)
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Yazmin Jauregui vs. Ketlen Souza (women’s strawweight)
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Edgar Chairez vs. Kevin Borjas (flyweight)
Early prelims
- Raul Rosas Jr. vs. Aoriqileng (bantamweight)
If you find yourself unable to view UFC 306 locally due to incorrectly applied blackout restrictions, you may need a different way to watch the bout and that’s where using a VPN can come in handy. A VPN is also the best way to stop your ISP from throttling your speeds on fight night by encrypting your traffic, plus it’s a great idea for when you’re traveling and find yourself connected to a Wi-Fi network, and you want to add an extra layer of privacy for your devices and logins.
With a VPN, you’re able to virtually change your location on your phone, tablet or laptop to get access to the matchup. So if your internet provider or mobile carrier has stuck you with an IP address that incorrectly shows your location in a blackout zone, a VPN can correct that problem by giving you an IP address in your correct, nonblackout area. Most VPNs, like our Editors’ Choice, ExpressVPN” target=”_blank, make it really easy to do this.
Using a VPN to watch or stream sports is legal in any country where VPNs are legal, including the US and Canada, as long as you’ve got a legitimate subscription to the service you’re streaming. You should be sure your VPN is set up correctly to prevent leaks: Even where VPNs are legal, the streaming service may terminate the account of anyone it deems to be circumventing correctly applied blackout restrictions.
Looking for other options? Be sure to check out some of the other great VPN deals” target=”_blank taking place right now.
ExpressVPN is our current best VPN pick for people who want a reliable and safe VPN, and it works on a variety of devices. It’s normally $13 a month, but if you sign up for an annual subscription for $100 you’ll get three months free and save 49%. That’s the equivalent of $6.67 a month with code SPECIALDEAL, which should be automatically applied.
Note that ExpressVPN offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.
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James Martin/CNET
- With four variables at play — your ISP, browser, video streaming provider and VPN — your experience and success when streaming UFC 306 may vary.
- If you don’t see your desired location as a default option for ExpressVPN, try using the “search for city or country” option.
- If you’re having trouble getting the fight after you’ve turned on your VPN and set it to the correct viewing area, there are two things you can try for a quick fix. First, log into your streaming service subscription account and make sure the address registered for the account is an address in the correct viewing area. If not, you may need to change the physical address on file with your account. Second, some smart TVs — like Roku — don’t have VPN apps you can install directly on the device itself. Instead, you’ll have to install the VPN on your router or the mobile hotspot you’re using (like your phone) so that any device on its Wi-Fi network now appears in the correct viewing location.
- All of the VPN providers we recommend have helpful instructions on their main site for quickly installing the VPN on your router. In some cases with smart TV services, after you install a cable network’s sports app, you’ll be asked to verify a numeric code or click a link sent to your email address on file for your smart TV. This is where having a VPN on your router will also help, since both devices will appear to be in the correct location.
- And remember, browsers can often give away a location despite using a VPN, so be sure you’re using a privacy-first browser to log into your services. We normally recommend Brave.
