Las Vegas is frequently the epicenter of combat sports.

The desert playpen has been a home for big-time boxing for years and has more recently become familiar turf for the UFC given its occasional arena shows in the center of town and year-round presence at the Apex facility a few miles off the Strip.

But this was a particularly special Saturday night.

Both sides of the combat aisle rolled out the red carpet to celebrate Mexican Independence Day weekend while holding pay-per-view shows barely two miles apart at T-Mobile Arena and the brand-new Sphere facility.

PPV stalwart Canelo Alvarez made his seventh September appearance in Nevada with a super middleweight title defense against Edgar Berlanga, while the UFC 306 show was headlined by a bantamweight bout featuring champion Sean O'Malley and a women's flyweight title bout between third-time rivals Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko.

It's the 11th anniversary of Alvarez's first giant PPV appearance, against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013.

The prelim portion of the UFC card went live at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed a half-hour later by the first bout on the Alvarez-led boxing main card, while the UFC's pay-per-view portion began at 10 p.m. ET.

The B/R combat team was ready for all of it and endeavored to produce a real-time definitive list of the winners and losers from both shows. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought or two of your own in the comments.

Winner: Promise Kept

Merab Dvalishvili told anyone who'd listen.

Sure, he knew that Sean O'Malley was both the UFC's reigning "it" guy and its bantamweight champion. But he never relented in his belief that he'd track the power-punching "Suga" man down and methodically grind his resolve with a never-emptying gas tank.

All it took was 25 minutes to prove his point.

The native of (the republic of) Georgia may not have been perpetual motion but he was close enough to it to be effective in throwing O'Malley off his volume-heavy game, taking him down for minutes at a time and shaking off what punches did land on the way to a methodical unanimous decision defeat in the first-ever main event at the promotion's first-ever Sphere show.

One judge gave him four of five rounds and two others gave him three of five, matching the B/R card which gave O'Malley the third and fifth.

It was a similar strategy to the one Dvalishvili had employed across a 10-fight win streak, which began in 2018 and frequently saw him bounce on the outside while picking his spots to charge forward and get the fight to the fence or the floor.

Analyst Din Thomas labeled him a "butterfly in a windstorm," which made it difficult for O'Malley to land the sniper shots for which he's known.

Dvalishvili was also able to capitalize whenever O'Malley missed big shots, subsequently getting in close and lowering the champion's work rate.

O'Malley never landed any shots of real consequence until he was far behind on the scorecards in the fifth round, when a kick to the body sent the challenger skittering around the ring, though he was able to avoid follow-up.

Dvalishvili landed 214 strikes to O'Malley's 49, scored six takedowns and racked up better than 10 minutes of positional control time in wresting the belt from O'Malley, who fell to 10-2 in the UFC while losing for the first time since Marlon Vera beat him in 2020.

"I feel like I'm living a dream. I know he was good but I made him look normal," Dvalishvili said. "Today I'm the best fighter in the UFC. (There was) nothing I didn't see in the gym. Nothing surprised me. I could go 15 more rounds like this."

Winner: Regaining Glory

It wasn't that long ago that Valentina Shevchenko was considered among the very best fighters, regardless of gender, in the MMA world.

Which made it even more frustrating to her that a foe whom she considered on a level beneath hers had been walking around with her laurels – and her flyweight championship belt – for the last 18 months since winning it via a shocking upset in March 2023.

So when the Kyrgyzstan-based "Bullet" arrived for Saturday's co-main event, she was on a mission to reclaim what she still believed to be hers. Twenty-five minutes later, the mission was completed and the 36-year-old became a two-time titleholder after defeating nemesis Alexa Grasso by unanimous decision – by three shutout scores of 50-45.

"Everything about this fight," Shevchenko said, "is more satisfying."

It was her 13th win in 17 UFC fights and ends a rivalry that began with Grasso's fourth-round face crank and was prolonged with a split-decision draw – a verdict many believed Shevchenko deserved – one year ago Monday.

Grasso remains the only fighter to beat Shevchenko since Amanda Nunes seven years ago.

Shevchenko took Grasso to the floor in each of the first three rounds, though Grasso stayed relevant by chasing submissions via armbar from her back. Another takedown occurred in the fourth and Grasso again chased a victory with a guillotine choke, but Shevchenko never seemed in imminent danger and reversed into a crucifix of her own by the end of the round.

She wound up with nearly 200 strikes landed, scored eight takedowns and earned nearly 15 minutes of positional control time on the ground.

"The game plan was to just go in and fight to the end," Shevchenko said. "This rivalry, it was what people wanted to see from martial arts. No trash talk, much respect."

Winner: September Tradition

Some things just don't change.

Whenever a would-be opponent approaches Canelo Alvarez with audible bluster and demonstrative threats of violence, he tends to rise to the occasion.

Saturday night was no different.

Faced with an aggressive, unbeaten and powerful – not to mention chatty – foe in Puerto Rican contender Edgar Berlanga, the 34-year-old bit down on his mouthpiece and relied on his methodical pressure and superior skill set to win a unanimous decision over 12 rounds.

He won nine of 12 rounds on one scorecard and 10 of 12 on the other two, securing the 62nd win across 66 fights in a pro career stretching back to 2005.

It was his ninth title fight win at 168 pounds, where he's been an undisputed champion and now holds three of the division's four most recognized title belts. He'd previously reigned at 154, 160 and 175 pounds, too.

"I did good. But now what are they gonna say," Alvarez said. "Now I fight younger fighters. Before they say I only fought older fighters. They always talk. I'm the best fighter in the world."

It was hard to argue after a comprehensive performance in which he landed 50 percent of his power punches across 12 rounds and scored the fight's lone knockdown with a snappy left hook in Round 3. Berlanga rose quickly and survived the round, and, though he was rattled several times across the final nine, never seemed in danger of an imminent stoppage.

Berlanga opened his career with 16 straight first-round KOs but seemed reluctant to fight too aggressively against Alvarez, who is excellent on defense and typically replies with powerful and precise counterpunches. As a result, the older man was the aggressor throughout and only occasionally found himself on the receiving end of prolonged volleys.

"(It was) my experience and my talent and my hard work and my intelligence," he said. "If you have talent and you have no discipline, you have nothing."

Winner: Instant Classic

It doesn't matter how long you watch boxing or MMA.

It'll be a while before you watch a better round than the third between UFC lightweights Daniel Zellhuber and Esteban Ribovics.

Analyst Joe Rogan, who knows what he's looking at, labeled the whole fight as one of the best he'd ever seen and went a step further with the final five minutes, suggesting it was "maybe the best round in history."

A tall, lanky Mexican, Zellhuber opened the round with a hard elbow that sent Ribovics to the mat. Still, the rugged Argentine quickly rose and eventually landed a hard shot of his own that kick-started a follow-up flurry that had Zellhuber stumbling, bumbling and reeling along the fence and looking just one more hard shot from an intervention from referee Jason Herzog.

The shots kept coming. But Herzog never jumped in. Eventually, Zellhuber began replying as Ribovics slowed, rejoining the battle with a few solid strikes of his own before the two men threw down in the center of the octagon for the last few seconds before the final horn and for another one or two ticks beyond it.

"Just two savages standing up and trying to knock each other out," analyst Daniel Cormier said, before deferring to colleague Jon Anik's claim that it's a lock for Fight of the Year candidacy.

Ribovics was ultimately awarded a split decision with two 29-28 scorecards that countered one in Zellhuber's favor.

"If my heart wants it I'm going to continue," he said. "My body is going to keep going."

Loser: Staying "Swift"

Danny Garcia has had a boxing career most would envy.

He was a champion at 140 and 147 pounds, appeared on significant pay-per-view shows and defeated high-profile foes like Amir Khan, Lucas Matthysse and Zab Judah.

But he's been relegated to part-time fighter status for a few years now and arrived at Saturday's title try against WBA middleweight champ Erislandy Lara having never competed in the weight class and not won a fight at any weight in more than two years.

And not surprisingly, he fought like it, too.

The now-36-year-old version of "Swift" lacked the energy and aggression of his past self. He paid the price for nearly every moment of eight rounds before a knockdown in the ninth led to a corner surrender offered by Garcia's trainer and father, Angel.

Lara landed consecutive right jabs from a southpaw stance and followed with a quick snapping left that sent Garcia to his knees, seemingly as much by surprise as concussion.

It was enough to prompt the wave-off for the fight and may signal a wave-off for the career of the semi-active Garcia, who won a belt at 140 pounds in 2012, added another at 147 in 2016 and was 7-3 with two KOs in 10 title fights before Saturday's appearance.

He'd last fought in July 2022, when he beat Jose Benevidez Jr. by majority decision over 12 rounds at 154 pounds.

"I haven't been active, maybe that's the reason or maybe he's just better than me," said Garcia, who then replied to retirement questions by saying, "I'll have to sit back and think about it. I've been at the top of the game for 12 years."

As for his father, he suggested the son will know best.

"Whatever he wants to do," Angel Garcia said, "I'm OK with it."

Loser: Mexican Celebrations

Ketlen Souza and Ignacio Bahamondes can agree to disagree.

But one thing's for sure.

The Brazilian strawweight and Chilean lightweight were nightmarish opponents for Mexican foes on a card constructed to celebrate that country's independence day, scoring surprising and sudden first-round finishes – one by submission, one by TKO – on Saturday's prelim card.

Mexican fighters went 1-4 in the five bouts on the prelim show.

Souza was matched with -455 favorite and former Combate Global champion Yazmin Jauregui and emerged a winner after dropping her opponent with a hard left hook and immediately seizing the rear-naked choke that ended matters at 3:02 of the opening round.

It was her second win in three UFC fights and just the second submission in a 19-fight career stretching back to 2016.

"It was such hard work," she said. "I spent three months training to get a finish like that so I had to finish her."

Bahamondes provided a fittingly violent encore one fight later, dropping a surging Manuel Torres twice with clean right hands and following up on the second one with a flurry that yielded a stoppage at 4:02 of the first.

Torres had won six straight fights – including one on Dana White's Contender Series and three in the UFC – all by first-round finish, but after the opening glove tap, it was all Bahamondes, who's considered the promotion's best striker by training teammate and welterweight champ Belal Muhammad.

The 27-year-old had won four of six fights in the UFC since emerging from Dana White's Contender Series in 2020.

Teenager Raul Rosas Jr. was a winner for Mexico in the first prelim fight before a decision loss for Édgar Cháirez against American Joshua Van in the second.

Fifth-ranked bantamweight contender Irene Aldana, a native of Culiacan, Mexico, entered the cage following the Souza and Bahamondes fights and dropped a unanimous verdict to No. 9 Norma Dumont, all by 30-27 counts.

Loser: Comeback Cruises

Premier Boxing Champions clients Stephen Fulton and Rolly Romero, both coming off KO losses that cost them their championship belts at 122 and 140 pounds, respectively, were returning for the first time against foes with respectable but hardly comparable resumes.

So the expectation coming in was that they'd not only win Saturday, but do so impressively.

Turns out that both did, but neither did, too.

Fulton, who was squashed by Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue in his last fight 14 months ago, escaped with a split-decision nod over Mexican export Carlos Castro after climbing off the canvas in his debut over 10 rounds at featherweight.

The Philadelphian was successful early with hand speed and movement but was caught by a one-two in the fifth that was punctuated by a hard right hand and sent him to the floor. He got up and struggled to survive against an aggressive Castro, but made it to the bell and rallied well in the sixth and seventh before finding more trouble down the stretch.

Two judges gave him seven and six rounds, respectively, but a dissenting judge made it close with a 95-94 scorecard in favor of Castro, who lost for the third time in six fights after beginning his career with 27 straight wins.

Meanwhile, Romero took center stage for the next fight and had a little more breathing room on the scorecards, but was only slightly more impressive than Fulton while winning a unanimous decision over California-based junior welterweight Manuel Jaimes.

Jaimes had a 16-1-1 record upon arrival but had beaten few names recognizable by anyone beyond the hardest of hardcore fight fans.

It was Romero's first fight since he was stopped by Isaac Cruz six months ago in the same venue, and just his third since a KO loss to Gervonta Davis at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in May 2022.

Winner: Teenage Dream

It wasn't a fan-friendly masterpiece and it didn't end in a finish.

So it's easy to suggest, especially as a better than 10-to-1 favorite, that Raul Rosas Jr. wasn't particularly impressive in the prelim card opener against Chinese veteran Aoriqileng.

But then you remember he's 19 years old, and the perspective changes a bit.

The youngest fighter on the UFC roster picked up his fourth win in five fights since debuting 21 months ago and went three rounds to secure a victory for the first time, eventually capturing a unanimous decision by matching 29-28 scores.

Roses scored three takedowns, landed 98 strikes and spent better than seven minutes in positional control while bettering his 31-year-old foe, then had enough energy afterward to suggest he's ready for bigger game after turning 20 next month.

"I'm just 19 years old with all these people behind me," he said. "Dana, it's time to talk numbers with the kid. I want a top-15 opponent next."

Loser: Combat Fans

First things first, no one's arguing that the Sphere isn't a technological masterpiece.

The in-person feels can barely be comprehended and the images broadcast on TV are unique to anything that's ever been seen on a pay-per-view fight card.

So if you're in it for the scientific breakthroughs, you're already a winner.

But there's no denying that having a UFC show opposite a pay-per-view boxing card involving that sport's most recognizable fighter is going to leave some folks wanting.

The Alvarez show on DAZN was going for $89.99 and the UFC event was its usual $79.99, meaning those who couldn't live without getting a glimpse of both O'Malley and Canelo would have to lay about $170 to do so. And if they weren't able to shell out that kind of cash, then they'd be forced to choose between the "Suga Show" and the Mexican superstar.

Any why? Because neither Canelo nor Dana White were willing to cede ground.

Alvarez has made a long-term habit of fighting in the biggest Las Vegas venue on Mexican Independence Day weekend but he lost his T-Mobile Arena spot when the UFC moved in last year, forcing him to choose September 30 instead.

The cinnamon-haired super middleweight re-staked his claim to the mid-September turf this around but White didn't back down, instead staying on the same weekend but taking his act to the new venue barely two miles away.

The battle is joined.

"I understand that Canelo and other great Mexican fighters have had these dates for years, but it's two dates," he told the Los Angeles Times. "You have Cinco de Mayo and independence day, you know what I mean? I'll take one of them. Period."

Full Card Results: UFC 306

Main Card

Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O'Malley by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47)

Valentina Shevchenko def. Alexa Grasso by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Diego Lopes def. Brian Ortega by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

Esteban Ribovics def. Daniel Zellhuber by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Ronaldo Rodríguez def. Ode' Osbourne by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)

Preliminary Card

Norma Dumont def. Irene Aldana by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Ignacio Bahamondes def. Manuel Torres by TKO (punches), 4:02, Round 1

Ketlen Souza def. Yazmin Jauregui by submission (rear-naked choke), 3:02, Round 1

Joshua Van def. Édgar Cháirez by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Raul Rosas Jr. def. Aoriqileng by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Full Card Results: Alvarez vs. Berlanga

Main Card

Canelo Alvarez def. Edgar Berlanga by unanimous decision (117-110, 118-109, 118-109)

Erislandy Lara def. Danny Garcia by TKO, 3:00, Round 9

Caleb Plant def. Trevor McCumby by TKO, 2:59, Round 9

Rolando Romero def. Manuel Jaimes by unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 99-91)

Stephen Fulton def. Carlos Castro by split decision (94-95, 96-93, 95-94)