The UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has solidified his position as the king of the division. After dethroning Sean O’Malley in dominating fashion, he will now give the former champion a rematch opportunity. Their battle has officially been announced to headline the UFC 316 main event which is scheduled to take place on 7th June at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
Their previous encounter was pretty one-sided because of Dvalishvili’s grappling prowess. After seeing that fans and MMA experts don’t have high expectations for the rematch. O’Malley just came out of injury; his hip had a torn labrum. The good news is that he’s fine now and is confident of performing much better than he did in the first fight.
What to expect?
It has been a strong pattern, in most cases, fighters with a solid grappling or wrestling background end up claiming a win against regular strikers. The only way for Sean O’Malley to win is for him to significantly sharpen his grappling skills or to explode with striking in such a way that he fully outplays Dvalishvili. It will be interesting to see if the defending champion can extend his winning streak and solidify his spot.
Sean O'Malley talks about his upcoming fight against Merab Dvalishvilli:
— FEDZ_MMA (@Fedzmma) April 2, 2025
“I’m going to be 70% better than I was in that first fight. I’m going to be significantly more mobile, agile, better shape.
I’m gonna fight at my full potential.”
VIA | @SugaSeanMMA #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/KtXUqeg7HD
UFC 316 Fight Card
Below are the fights that have been announced thus far:
- Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley
- Champ Julianna Peña vs Kayla Harrison
- Mario Bautista vs Marlon Vera
- Shamil Gaziev vs Serghei Spivac
- Bruno Silva vs Joshua Van Azamat
- Murzakanov vs Johnny Walker