UFC 306 is in the books and there are two new champions atop the UFC. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko reclaimed the flyweight title and ended her rivalry with Alexa Grasso, winning a dominant decision. Then in the main event, Merab Dvalishvili avenged his friend Aljamain Sterling, putting on a vintage performance and outworking Sean O’Malley to claim the bantamweight title.

But the real star of the show on Saturday night was Sphere in Las Vegas, as the UFC pulled out all the stops to provide a once-in-a-lifetime experience for viewers in the promotion’s “love letter to Mexico.” So with an event with so much to talk about, let’s gather the MMA Fighting brain trust to discuss everything that happened.

1. What is your review of UFC 306? Did the Sphere live up to the hype?

Heck: As we put a bow on the festivities, the takeaways are more spectacle than in-cage action. Not trying to take anything away from new champs Merab Dvalishvili and Valentina Shevchenko, because they did the damn thing and won their fights, but neither are ones we’ll voluntarily go back and watch again. What we will re-watch — and show our friends and family members who aren’t UFC fans — is the exSphereience of it all. The movies, the graphics, the main card open, the production values the UFC worked so hard on. The event was a bit of a slog as a whole, especially down the stretch, but I’d love to see them try again.

Martin: Yes and no. On a positive note, it was great to see the UFC try something totally different and new. Outside of the fights themselves and the crowds from certain cities or countries bringing a lot of energy, every major UFC pay-per-view pretty much always looks the same. So seeing all the pomp and circumstance used to build up this card was pretty cool. That said, Sphere is ultimately a visual experience that works best if you’re in the arena. Think of it like watching videos of your favorite band on YouTube — it’s still cool but it just doesn’t compare to actually being there in person. Add to that, the card wasn’t ultra stacked and five main card fights all going to decision with the show not ending until nearly 2 a.m. ET wasn’t ideal.

Lee: No, because how could it?

Uncle Dana promised everyone the greatest sporting event in the history of sports, and I can’t imagine anyone sincerely believing that it came close to that mark even if you had the best seat in the house. What you got were mostly cool and well-intentioned short films dedicated to celebrating Mexican heritage, some sick-looking backdrops for the main card fights, big audio that would shake you down to your butt, and chair tech that would literally shake your butt with every strike (or so I’m told).

For those of us watching remotely, there was no way to fully appreciate it, despite the broadcast team doing their very best to show the Sphere off. Our first glimpse of the famed wall was the UFC using it to simulate scaffolding for the preliminary portion of the show. That’s not great.

I trust everyone involved did their best to make UFC 306’s production one for the ages, but there’s only so much you can do for the millions of us tuning in at home from the comfort of our decidedly non-butt-shaking chairs.

Meshew: UFC 306 was solid if underwhelming, but I was pleasantly surprised with the production.

For years we’ve asked the UFC to break away from its monochromatic way of doing things, from bland uniforms to the same old production 42 times a year. And while Sphere maybe didn’t reach the lofty goals Dana White set for it, there was some undeniably cool stuff going on, even for the at-home viewers. The vignettes between fights, the octagon girls, the drone shots and backgrounds, all were new and interesting and while everything wasn’t to my taste, I commend them for trying not just something new, but to try and communicate a broader story. It was fun, and I hope they do more of this in the future.

2. What was the best part of the evening?

Heck: While I put over the production, the best thing on the card was Esteban Ribovics vs. Daniel Zellhuber. Holy hell, Batman! Those two guys understood the damn assignment, and delivered this generation’s Cub Swanson vs. Doo Ho Choi. Incredible will, skill, heart, and granite chins were shown by both, as Ribovics and Zellhuber displayed the overall spirit of what this card was designed to represent. This ruled, and if there’s one fight to go out of your way to watch if you missed UFC 306, it’s this one. Lightweight is the best.

Lee: Years from now, when I’m looking back at this pay-per-view, somehow despite all the Sphere’s bells and whistles, and a pair of title fight results that could have long-lasting repercussions for the UFC, what I’ll remember most is two unranked lightweights giving each other the business for three rounds, with five minutes in particular standing out.

Saturday’s undercard was lambasted by some fans for lacking star power, but it’s fights like these that create stars. More than any movie that was played on the screen, Ribovics and Zellhuber gave us pure cinema (or CineMMA, if you will).

Meshew: I hate to double dip, but I’m going to go with the whole Sphere thing. Ribovics vs. Zellhuber is very possibly the Fight of the Year at this point, so I don’t begrudge anyone for picking that, but when I look back at UFC 306, the first thing that will come to mind is Sphere and the UFC taking such a big swing. Because under normal circumstances, that card might have been dreadful. Ten fights felt like ten hours, and it went super late, but I still somehow never felt that bogged down, mostly because the newness of Sphere and all the surrounding parts kept me engaged and interested, trying to take it all in. Again, not all of it worked, but it was all interesting and really was the star of the show.

Martin: It wasn’t the most exciting fight in history but watching Merab Dvalishvili finally ascend to the top of the bantamweight division was pretty special. Nothing got handed to this guy and I’d argue that he was forced to work that much harder to get in that position thanks to his wrestling heavy style and refusal to even entertain a potential fight against Aljamain Sterling when he was champion — a declaration that Dana White openly criticized. Dvalishvili ultimately had to win 10 consecutive fights including wins over three former champions — Jose Aldo, Petr Yan and Henry Cejudo — to finally get his title shot with the likely understanding that he would never get another one if he lost. So Dvalishvili made the most of his moment and now he can celebrate as the new UFC champion.

3. What was your least favorite part of the evening?

Meshew: Unfortunately, it was the final two fights of the evening.

Merab Dvalishvili and Valentina Shevchenko picked up dominant, meaningful, professional wins on Saturday night. They won titles and got two paychecks and that is 100 percent the most important thing. I have tremendous respect for what they accomplished at UFC 306, and I’m even happy they both won as I’m fans of both. But those fights were tough hangs.

Up until the co-main event, the fights had almost all been electric and the vibes were sky high. Then Shevchenko hossed Grasso around for 25 minutes and broke her will and the energy just got drained out of the card. And then Merab did the same in the main event and so this grand spectacle just sort of ended, instead of having a grand finale. Paradoxically, the two most important things that happened were also the worst parts of the show.

But also, special shoutout to the irony of a show celebrating Mexican Independence being sponsored by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Satire is truly dead.

Lee: Some unfortunate soul on the UFC broadcast team mistaking Bud Crawford for Kendrick Lamar was ROUGH.