UFC
316 will feature a pair of title bouts at the top of the
bill.
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In the main event, Merab
Dvalishvili will defend his bantamweight crown in a rematch
against Sean
O’Malley, while Julianna
Pena will square off against Kayla
Harrison in a women’s 135-pound title tilt in the evening’s
co-headliner.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the bouts on Tuesday. UFC 316
takes place on June 7 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New
Jersey and airs on pay-per-view via ESPN+.
Dvalishvili will take a 12-fight winning streak into his rematch
against O’Malley. “The Machine” claimed bantamweight gold with a
lopsided unanimous decision win over O’Malley at UFC
306 this past September. The Georgian wrestler then made a
successful defense of the belt at UFC 311,
where he took a five-round verdict over the previously undefeated
Umar
Nurmagomedov.
O’Malley will be competing for the first time since relinquishing
the bantamweight strap to Dvalishvili. “Suga” underwent hip surgery
after the bout and has been on the mend in recent months. The
Dana White’s Contender Series alum is 10-2 with one no contest
during his UFC tenure and owns notable triumphs over the likes of
Marlon
Vera, Aljamain
Sterling and Petr Yan.
The 35-year-old Pena began a second reign as women’s bantamweight
queen when she defeated Raquel
Pennington via split decision at UFC 307
this past October. “The Venezuelan Vixen” shocked the world with a
second-round submission of Amanda
Nunes to initially capture the 135-pound belt at UFC 269 in
December 2021. However, Pena suffered a clear-cut decision loss to
Nunes in their rematch at UFC 277. The Sikjitsu product didn’t
return until more than two years later, when she bested Pennington
in their aforementioned championship clash.
A two-time Olympic gold medalist and a two-time
Professional Fighters League champion, Harrison has been
victorious in 18 of 19 professional appearances. She submitted
ex-bantamweight title holder Holly Holm in
her Octagon debut and followed that performance with a unanimous
decision win against Ketlen
Vieira at UFC 307.
NEWS FROM THE BOSS 🚨@MerabDvalishvil
[
vs @SugaSeanMMA
and @VenezuelanVixen
vs @KaylaH is
LIVE June 7th from @PruCenter,
New Jersey!
#UFC316 | @Visit_NJ ] pic.twitter.com/oozWoRiJQq— UFC (@ufc)
April 1, 2025