Sherdog’s Top 10: Can’t-Miss Fights of September

Not many embody the spirit of stick-to-itiveness better than Merab Dvalishvili.

The battle-hardened Serra-Longo Fight Team brute will challenge Sean O’Malley for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title when they square off in the UFC 306 headliner on Sept. 14 at The Sphere in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili, 33, plows into the cage on the strength of a 10-fight winning streak. The Georgian last saw action at UFC 298, where he outpointed onetime Olympic gold medalist and former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo to a three-round unanimous decision on Feb. 17. Dvalishvili has compiled a 10-2 record across his 12 outings inside the Octagon. O’Malley, meanwhile, has rattled off three straight victories since his 2022 encounter with Pedro Munhoz ended in a no contest. The 29-year-old MMA Lab export last fought on March 9, when he was awarded a unanimous verdict over Marlon Vera at UFC 299. O’Malley has secured 12 of his 18 career wins by knockout or technical knockout.

The O’Malley-Dvalishvili showdown is but one can’t-miss fight in September. Here are nine more:

Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady
UFC Fight Night 242
Sept. 7 | Las Vegas
Burns remains a fixture in the Top 10 rankings at 170, though his time there could be running short. The Kill Cliff Fight Club mainstay trudges into his latest assignment on the heels of back-to-back losses, and at the age of 38, questions have begun to arise regarding exactly how much he has left in the tank. Burns last competed at UFC 299, where he was felled by a third-round knee strike and a volley of elbows from Jack Della Maddalena in March. It was just the third stoppage loss of his 29-fight career. Brady does not figure to provide much in terms of refuge. The 31-year-old Daniel Gracie protégé on Dec. 2 rebounded from a 2022 technical knockout loss to Belal Muhammad, as he submitted “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum with a kimura in the third round of their UFC on ESPN 52 showcase.

Usman Nurmagomedov vs. Alexandr Shabliy
Bellator Champions Series 4
Sept. 7 | San Diego
Nurmagomedov’s head does not look uneasy, at least not yet. The undefeated American Kickboxing Academy rep defends his Bellator MMA lightweight crown against a fellow Russian in his latest assignment at Pechanga Arena. Victories over Patricky Freire and former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson marked the 26-year-old Nurmagomedov’s rise to the top of the 155-pound weight class. He boasts an exceptional 82% finish rate. On the other side of the equation, Shabliy steps into view with the wind of a nine-fight winning streak in his sails. The Peresvet Fight Team ace last strapped on the gloves at Bellator 301, where he took a unanimous decision from the aforementioned Freire on Nov. 17. Shabliy, 31, has not lost a fight in almost eight years.

Islam Omarov vs. Kurban Taygibov
Absolute Championship Akhmat 179
Sept. 8 | Krasnodar, Russia
Omarov has little left to accomplish at the regional level. The 27-year-old Gorets Fight Club rep risks his Absolute Championship Akhmat featherweight title when he toes the line against Taygibov at Basket Hall. Omarov, 27, has won all 15 of his bouts as a pro, 10 of them via finish, and cemented himself as one of the top talents in Europe. “T-34” last appeared at ACA 171, where he dismissed Alexey Polpudnikov with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their Feb. 25 confrontation. Taygibov, meanwhile, has strung together four consecutive victories. The Sambo Piter product staked his claim as the company’s No. 1 contender at 145 pounds when he waylaid Luis Rafael Laurentino with punches in a shade more than three minutes at ACA 160 in July 2023.

Alexa Grasso vs. Valentina Shevchenko
UFC 306
Sept. 14 | Las Vegas
Archrivals are set to complete their trilogy when Grasso defends her undisputed women’s flyweight championship against Shevchenko in a five-round co-main event at The Sphere. They have met twice previously. Grasso dethroned “Bullet” with a stunning face crank submission at UFC 285 on March 4, 2023, then settled for a split draw with the former champion in their UFC Fight Night 227 rematch six months later. Shevchenko completed four takedowns and piled up more than eight minutes of control time in their contentious second encounter, helping to counteract a knockdown and a 262-199 deficit in the significant strikes landed department. They spent their ensuing time and energy filming the recently completed Season 32 of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality series as opposing coaches.

Archie Colgan vs. Manoel Sousa
Bellator Champions Series 5
Sept. 14 | London
Colgan looks like exactly the kind of high-floor, high-ceiling prospect MMA companies covet. The 29-year-old Denver native wrestled collegiately at the University of Wyoming, where he was a two-time NCAA qualifier and compiled an outstanding 111-41 record for the Cowboys. Colgan’s transition to mixed martial arts has gone swimmingly, as he enters his latest test having raced out to a 10-0 start to his career—a run that includes victories over Thibault Gouti and Emmanuel Sanchez. On the other side of the ledger, the unbeaten Sousa has finished 10 of his first 11 opponents, five of them in the first round. The Brazilian dazzled in his March 22 promotional debut, as he punched out Tim Wilde just 4:48 into their Bellator Champions Series 1 clash. Sousa, 27, struck gold in the Standout Fighting Tournament promotion while making his way through the regional scene in his native Brazil.

Mohammad Alaqraa vs. Badreddine Diani
PFL MENA 3
Sept. 20 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
As the Professional Fighters League presses ever deeper into untapped markets in the Middle East and North Africa, more and more doors figure to open for someone of Alaqraa’s ilk. The undefeated American Kickboxing Academy welterweight became an immediate person of interest when he was signed for the inaugural PFL MENA season and moved to within two wins of a league championship when he took out Youcef Ouabbas with third-round punches in July. Diani stands in his path in the semifinals. The Rebels Team-trained Moroccan secured his spot in the Final Four at 170 pounds with a three-round unanimous decision over Amir Fazli at PFL MENA 2.

Renato Carneiro vs. Benoit St. Denis
UFC Fight Night 243
Sept. 28 | Paris
Carneiro has his work cut out for him in his second headlining assignment for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he ventures into hostile territory to face one of France’s most revered mixed martial artists. The 35-year-old American Top Team representative climbs into the cage with some momentum on his side, as he has posted three straight wins since a March 2022 defeat to Rafael dos Anjos. Carneiro last competed at UFC 300, where he swept away Jalin Turner with elbows and punches in the second round of their April 13 affair. St. Denis, meanwhile, finds himself on the rebound following a second-round knockout loss to Dustin Poirier in a UFC 299 firefight on March 9. The setback snapped a five-fight winning streak for the former French Special Forces operator.

Shanelle Dyer vs. Valentina Scatizzi
PFL Europe 3
Sept. 28 | Glasgow, Scotland
Dyer’s name holds a prominent place on most reputable prospect lists. A protégé of former Cage Rage champion Brad Pickett, the Great Britain Top Team standout can take another step toward a PFL Europe title when she matches wits and fists with Scatizzi in the women’s flyweight semifinals. Dyer improved to 5-0 with four finishes on June 8, when she cut down Mariam Torchinava with a head kick and authored the third first-round stoppage of her career. SBG Ireland’s Scatizzi undoubtedly fancies herself a spoiler in this situation. She last suited up at PFL Europe 2, where she rebounded from a technical knockout loss to Dakota Ditcheva with a three-round unanimous decision over Marie Loiseau.

Roberto Satoshi de Souza vs. Luiz Gustavo
Rizin Fighting Federation 48
Sept. 29 | Saitama, Japan
As a two-time Abu Dhabi World Professional Jiu-Jitsu Championship gold medalist, de Souza was expected to excel in his move to MMA. So far, so good. The decorated 34-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt puts his Rizin Fighting Federation lightweight title on the line for the first time when he dukes it out with Gustavo at the Saitama Super Arena. De Souza has alternated wins and losses in each of his past four outings. He last competed on March 29, when he prompted a first-round corner stoppage against former Shooto, Sengoku and Deep champion Keita Nakamura. On the other side of the docket, Gustavo takes aim at his most significant target to date and does so on a four-fight winning streak. The Brazilian TKO stalwart boasts 12 finishes among his 14 professional victories.