The highly anticipated UFC 316 event on June 7th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, will feature a thrilling main event and co-main event. Merab Dvalishvili is set to face Sean O’Malley in a rematch for the bantamweight title, while Julianna Pena will defend her bantamweight championship against newcomer Kayla Harrison.
UFC CEO Dana White made the official announcement of these exciting matchups on Tuesday.
Dvalishvili will be aiming for his second title defense at 135 pounds. His previous fight saw him defeat Umar Nurmagomedov in a dominant five-round victory in January. Prior to that, just four months earlier, Dvalishvili captured the bantamweight title by defeating O’Malley decisively at UFC 306 in Las Vegas.
Despite not competing since his title loss to Dvalishvili, O’Malley will get an immediate opportunity to reclaim the belt in this rematch scheduled for June.
In the co-main event, Pena returns to the Octagon after a close decision win against Raquel Pennington, which earned her the title of two-time UFC bantamweight champion. Pena’s recent record stands at 3-1 in her last four fights, highlighted by her victory over Amanda Nunes in 2021 to initially become champion.
Her next challenge is Kayla Harrison, a decorated two-time Olympic champion. Harrison, formerly a champion in PFL, recently joined the UFC and secured consecutive wins against Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira, earning her a shot at the title.
Harrison boasts an impressive professional record of 18-1 and will be looking to add the UFC championship to her accolades when she faces Pena in June.
Marcus Blakely