Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is back with its latest pay-per-view (PPV) offering as UFC 316 is set to go down later TONIGHT (Sat., June 7, 2025) inside Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., streaming LIVE on ESPN+ PPV. Headlining the event will be a Bantamweight championship rematch as division kingpin, Merab Dvalishvili,defends the 135-pound belt against the man he took it from, Sean O’Malley. The co-headlining title fight will see women’s Bantamweight roost-ruler, Julianna Pena, defend her strap against bitter rival, Kayla Harrison.
What’s Hot:
Dvalishvili is currently proving his worth as champion, something he showed early on in his career. Indeed, fight fans saw right away that “The Machine” had all the tools to get it done and reach the pinnacle of the sport, which he did by capturing that strap against O’Malley at UFC 306 back in Sept. 2024. His tremendous pace and aggression is what makes him who he is and that is something that is unlikely to change. O’Malley, meanwhile, is without a doubt one of UFC’s bright stars that the promotion has no issue getting behind, so it really should come as no surprise that he was awarded a chance to reclaim his title. For all the critics who claim that O’Malley hasn’t earned what he’s been given, he has proven his worth inside the cage because, after all, fighters like Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan and Marlon Vera are far from scrubs (two of them are former world champions). Still, you can’t help but to feel it might sting a little bit to hear the chatter, especially after Dvalishvili dominated him. If O’Malley can’t get a win this time around against “The Machine,” another title fight will likely not be in his future for as long as Merab holds the strap. For Dvalishvili, another win further elevates his status as the Bantamweight G.O.A.T.
“Suga” has long been accused of getting special “Dana White privilege” due to claims of him getting a favorable strength of schedule to start his career (and by getting a lot of public relations love). That so-called privilege was once again brought into question when it was revealed that “Suga” would be getting a rematch after Merab defeated him convincingly just nine months ago. Nevertheless, it’s not like he would turn down the title fight, and Dvalishvilli wouldn’t turn down the chance to silence O’Malley and his supporters once more to prove once and for all he is the man to lead the 135-pound division. And he will rely on that world-class grappling — not bright arena lights — to get the job done once again.
Original Card Vs. Actual Card:
Marlon Vera was set to face Mario Bautista at this event before was forced out of the fight for undisclosed reasons. Stepping in to take his place is former Bellator MMA Bantamweight king, Patchy Mix, who will be making his promotional debut. Also, Shamil Gaziev pulled out of his fight against Serghei Spivac due to undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Waldo Cortes-Acosta, who is riding a four-fight win streak. As for Spivac, he is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Jailton Almeida (highlights).
Injuries:
Johnny Walker was set to face off against Azamat Murzakanov, but pulled out with an undisclosed injury. Brendson Ribeiro — who is riding a two-fight win streak — was tagged as his replacement. As for Murzakanov, he is still scorching hot and has yet to taste defeat in his mixed martial arts (MMA career), boasting a perfect resume (14-0), which includes going undefeated (4-0) inside the Octagon with three knockouts.
New Blood and ‘Prelims:’
Patchy Mix finally got his wish and was released of his Professional Fighters League (PFL) contract, which allowed him to sign with UFC. Mix has an outstanding record of 20-1 and is currently riding a seven-fight win streak. His only loss came against Juan Archuleta in 2020, and he hasn’t come close to another loss since. Mix is without a doubt one of the best 135-pound fighters in the sport, and now the former Bellator MMA champion will have the chance to prove that he can hang on the biggest stage of them all. While Bautista may not be a big “name” fighter, he will give Mix fits inside the cage because he is also on a seven-fight win streak. He was last seen defeating Jose Aldo via split decision and now has the chance to up his resume by giving Mix a rude UFC welcome.
Mark Choinski did some work over in Anthony Pettis’ upstart promotion, winning all three of his fights while collecting the 155-pound title. He is undefeated (8-0) with five submissions and one knockout to his credit. His first challenge inside the Octagon will be MarQuel Mederos, who is scorching hot with eight-straight wins, which includes winning his first two fights under UFC’s banner.
Joo Sang Yoo is also undefeated (8-0) coming into his Octagon debut. He got his MMA start just four years ago, so he is still very green. But, that does not take away from his skill, because he does have the tools to do damage and make a quick impact in the Featherweight division. He will battle Jeka Saragi, who is just 1-2 inside the Octagon and was last seen getting submitted by Westin Wilson exactly one year ago.
Andreas Gustafsson’s debut was halted last week after Trevin Giles suffered a last-minute injury. Thankfully, the promotion was able to book him one week later against Khaos Williams, who is coming off a submission loss at the hands of Gabriel Bonfim. As for Gustafsson, he is on a three-fight win streak and earned his UFC contract by shining on Contender Series, knocking out Pat Pytlik back in Aug. 2024.
In men’s Flyweight action, Bruno Silva (No. 12) will do battle against Joshua Van (No. 14). Silva is coming off a knockout loss at the hands of Manel Kape, while Van has won three straight fights. Both men are looking to make a case for a Top 10 ranking.
Quillan Salkilld vs. Yanal Ashmouz will throw down in a Lightweight bout between two rising contenders. Salkilld has won eight-straight fights after losing his debut fight in 2021 and made an explosive UFC debut, knocking out Anshul Jubli in just 18 seconds at UFC 312. As for Ashmouz, he is 2-1 under UFC’s banner and was last seen defeating Trevor Peek in Sept. 2024.
Who Needs A Win Badly:
Ariane da Silva is currently on a two-fight losing streak with her last win coming two years ago. To compound her woes, she came in a whopping six pounds overweight for her scheduled fight against Wang Cong, who is 2-1 so far in her UFC career. Not only will da Silva have to fork over 20 percent of her purse, she needs a win pretty badly because if she loses her third straight, added with a massive scale fail, she will be a prime candidate to get cut.
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CHAMPIONSHIP DOUBLE-DIP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., June 7, 2025, with a championship doubleheader headlining UFC 316 from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. In UFC 316’s PPV main event, Bantamweight roost-ruler, Merab Dvalishvili, defends his title against former division champion, Sean O’Malley, in a highly-anticipated five-round rematch. UFC 316’s PPV co-main event features women’s Bantamweight titleholder, Julianna Pena, facing off against two-time Olympic gold medalist, Kayla Harrison, in a thrilling five-round clash. UFC 316 will also showcase a 135-pound showdown between Patchy Mix vs. Mario Bautista, as well as a Welterweight bout pitting Vicente Luque vs. Kevin Holland and much more! UFC 316’s start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).
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UFC women’s Bantamweight champion Julianna Pena is adamant a win over Kayla Harrison still won’t be good enough for people to give her credit. But I think what Pena needs to realize that it’s not her skills that turn people off about her, but rather her tendency to try too hard on the mic. In every interview, every press conference, “The Venezuelan Vixin” is seemingly constantly talking up a storm against someone. But, there is talking trash and giving credit where it’s due, and I feel Pena fails in that department, as was the case when it came to her fights against Amanda Nunes. She is doing the same with Harrison, so she definitely needs to back it up because the former PFL champion is a legit threat that can dethrone her. For Harrison, this is the moment she has been waiting for all her career, the chance to be a UFC champion. The knock on her greatness is due to her extensive time competing under the PFL banner. While it was nice collecting all of those million-dollar checks, the respect from many doubters will come from winning a strap inside the Octagon.
Kelvin Gastelum was never able to get over the hump and win a title. While he got close against Israel Adesanya, it seems that ship has sailed for him. Nevertheless, he is still hanging around and while a championship fight may no longer be in his future, he can still be trouble for anyone looking to climb that ladder. And that is exactly what Joe Pyfer will quickly realize once the cage door slams shut. Pyfer — who is not a fraud — kicked off his UFC career with three straight wins before he lost against Jack Hermansson. He was able to bounce back with a win over Marc-Andre Barriault and will look to build off that momentum against another longtime veteran.
In what should be an entertaining Welterweight affair, Vicente Luque and Kevin Holland will kick off the main card. Luque is coming off a big win over Themba Gorimbo, submitting him at UFC 310 in the very first round (see it again here). As for Holland, he snapped his two-fight skid by defeating Gunnar Nelson earlier this year. Look, neither of these two men will likely ever compete for a UFC title, and at this point in their careers putting on good fights and collecting checks is the name of the game.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 316 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 316: “Merab vs. O’Malley 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
