Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley Rematch Set For UFC 316

Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley Rematch Set For UFC 316

A bantamweight title rematch between current champion Merab Dvalishvili and the man he displaced at the top of the division Sean O’Malley will headlined UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey on June 7th.

The two first met in September of last year at UFC 306, aka ‘Riyadh Season Presents Noche FC’ at The Sphere in Las Vegas as O’Malley attempted to make his second defense of the title, only to be beaten by unanimous decision by Dvalishvili.

That took the 34-year-old Dvalishvili’s unbeaten run to an impressive 11 fights, and he’s since added to that with his first successful title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January, where he again emerged victorious on the scorecards.

Prior to his loss to Dvalishvili the 30-year-old O’Malley had been on a seven-fight unbeaten run, beating the likes of Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling and Marlon Vera along the way.

He hasn’t fought since Noche FC though, meaning that it’ll have been around a nine months layoff for ‘Suga’ Sean by the time they lock horns again.

Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley will headline a UFC 316 show that also has a newly announced co-main event, between women’s bantamweight champion Juliana Pena and Kayla Harrison.

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About Jason Henderson

Over the years I've watched the UFC develop into the powerhouse it is today, organizations like PRIDE, Strikeforce and WEC rise and fall, and Bellator emerge as a new force on the MMA landscape. Throughout it all I've remained captivated by the sport and I'm excited to cover what comes next here on MMA Insight.

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