UFC 316 will host two big title fights at 135 pounds. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
(Jeff Bottari via Getty Images)
UFC 316 will showcase two big title fights when the promotion returns to Newark, New Jersey, in on June 7.
The promotion announced Tuesday that the reigning bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will headline the event in a rematch with Sean O’Malley at the Prudential Center. In the co-main event, the women’s bantamweight crown will also be on the line when Julianna Pena begins her second title reign with a defense against Kayla Harrison.
Advertisement
Dvalishvili and O’Malley first met at UFC 306 in September 2024, as the featured attraction atop the famous “one-and-only” UFC event in the Las Vegas Sphere. Dvalishvili won the fight and seized the 135-pound belt, utilizing his strong grappling game to stifle O’Malley en route to a unanimous decision win that ended O’Malley’s short title reign.
Dvalishvili has fought once since then, earning another unanimous decision nod over challenger Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 this past January. Meanwhile, O’Malley’s been relatively silent and has stayed largely out of the public spotlight since his loss. This will be his first time back in the cage since dropping the title to Dvalishvili in September.
Kayla Harrison gets her first shot at a UFC title after going 2-0 in the promotion. (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)
(USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect / Reuters)
Pena and Harrison have also been absent from competition since they defeated separate opponents at UFC 307 in October 2024. The now two-time champion Pena recaptured the women’s 135-pound title in the co-main event that night with a split-decision over Raquel Pennington. The former Olympic gold medalist and PFL champion Harrison picked up her second straight UFC win with a unanimous decision against Ketlen Vieira on the same fight card.
Advertisement
Outside of UFC 316’s big headliner announcements, the promotion also announced a change to the UFC Kansas City lineup on April 26. The original main event between light heavyweight contenders Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr. is now off, clearing the lane for a collisions of welterweight contenders Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates.
Prates was scheduled to fight Geoff Neal at UFC 314 in Miami next weekend, but Neal suffered an injury this past week and was forced to withdraw. A victory for Prates would extend his winning streak to 12 straight fights (five in UFC), while Garry hopes to return to the win column after suffering his first career loss against Shavkat Rakhmonov this past December.
UFC 316’s current fight lineup is as follows:
Bantamweight championship: (C) Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley
Women’s bantamweight championship: (C) Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison
Bantamweight: Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista
Flyweight: Bruno Gustavo da Silva vs. Joshua Van
