A bantamweight title rematch will go down later this evening (Sat., June 7, 2025) at UFC 316 LIVE on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, as Merab Dvalishvili puts his 135-pound strap on the line against former UFC champion Sean O’Malley in the main event.
In case you forgot, Dvalishvili and O’Malley fought already back at UFC 306 in Sept. 2024. That fight happened inside The Sphere in Las Vegas and went a full five rounds. Dvalishvili won by way of unanimous decision, but it wasn’t a complete landslide. O’Malley did some nice work throughout the fight and even landed brutal front kicks to the body late in the fight that visibly hurt “The Machine.”
Some may be bothered by O’Malley getting a quick rematch for his belt, but it’s still the biggest fight to make at 135 pounds right now. “Suga” is a big enough star to warrant another shot at UFC gold and with an upset win he can bring his UFC stock to even greater heights. It will be up to Merab to silence O’Malley once more and prove he’s the unstoppable bantamweight force that we believe him to be.
So when exactly can fight fans expect to see O’Malley take another crack at Dvalishvili?
With a fully-loaded PPV main card, UFC 316’s main event between Merab and O’Malley should begin sometime around 12:30 a.m. ET (Sunday). Considering the co-main event title fight between Julianna Pena and Kayla Harrison could go a full 25 minutes there’s a chance Dvalishvili and O’Malley fight even later. Stick with Mania for start time updates as the night unfolds!
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 316 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ preliminary card matches at 6:00 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 316 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 316: “Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 316 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
