The Machine’ remains the Bantamweight king

Merab ‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili remains the Bantamweight Champion of the UFC after a dominant victory over Sean O’Malley in the main event of UFC 316 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on the morning of Sunday 8 June 2025.

Dvalishvili, who first won the title by defeating O’Malley via unanimous decision in September last year, secured an even more emphatic triumph this time around for his second successful defence of the belt, dominating the first two rounds, before submitting ‘Suga’ late in the third with an improvised choke that forced the former champ to tap out.

‘The Machine’ was in control from early on, matching O’Malley’s striking and dominating in grappling and strength terms whenever the two were in close proximity.

“I’m on top of the world, I’m a world champion, I came from nothing,” said Dvalishvili after the fight, while O’Malley could only exclaim: “Merab’s a motherf***er.”

In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison became the new Women’s Bantamweight Champion with a second-round submission win over Julianna Pena. The former Judo World Champion and Olympic Gold medallist secured the triumph with a kimura

“This is for my family, who I love, my two beautiful children,” said Harrison after the fight, before calling MMA legend Amanda Nunes to the Octagon, and the latter cordially agreed to come out of retirement for a super-fight in the future. “You’ve got the legacy, I’ve got the belt... let’s do this!”

The rest of the main card featured Kevin Holland submitting Vicente Luque in the first round of their welterweight fight; Mario Bautista outpointed Patrick Mix in a bantamweight bout; and Joe Pyfer got the better of Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision in their middleweight match.

The UFC continues next weekend with a Fight Night at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, which will be headlined by Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman taking on Joaquin Buckley in the welterweight division.

UFC 316 – Main card results

- Main event: Bantamweight Championship: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via submission (choke), R3, 4:42

- Co-main event: Women’s Bantamweight Championship: Kayla Harrison def. Julianna Pena via submission (kimura), R2, 4:55

- Middleweight: Joe Pyfer def. Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision (29-28 29-27 30-27), R3, 5:00

- Bantamweight: Mario Bautista def. Patrick Mix via unanimous decision (29-28 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00

- Welterweight: Kevin Holland def. Vicente Luque via submission (Anaconda choke), R2, 1:03