Merab Dvalishvili Chokes Out Sean O'Malley in Rout at UFC 316

Sean O'Malley spent most of this year assuring us that a rematch with Merab Dvalishvili would go differently. It did, but not in the way he probably would have liked.

In the main event of of UFC 316 on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, “The Machine” defended his bantamweight title against the man from whom he took it last fall, O’Malley. Much of the promotional lead-up to the fight consisted of O’Malley discussing the changes he had made in his life and how those would lead to a different result in the cage, but once the two men went to work, he looked somewhat tentative. For most of the first half of Round 1, O’Malley gave ground, backing up and circling out in the face of Dvalishvili’s trademark frantic pace and pressure. The champ, aided by an O’Malley stumble at the base of the fence, secured his first takedown midway through the round. O’Malley escaped, but Dvalishvili was relentless in pursuit and returned him to the canvas, more emphatically this time, and landed a few solid strikes from guard. The challenger was quicker to stand his ground in Round 2, but still hesitant to pull the trigger, and the best strikes in the early going were a couple of fast punch combos from Dvalishvili. O’Malley scored a small but significant victory midway through the round when Dvalishvili backed him into the fence with a flurry of hooks but was unable to land the takedown. The challenger followed it up with a hard right hand a few moments later, and the champ answered with a hard three-piece upstairs. The round ended with both fighters having encroached on their foe’s territory: Dvalishvili was having notable success on the feet, while O’Malley had not even come close to being taken down despite several earnest attempts by the champ.

The floor would not continue to be lava in Round 3. Dvalishvili grounded O’Malley quickly and went to work from the challenger’s closed guard. O’Malley did a credible job defending himself from the champ’s hyperactive ground-and-pound, but considering he may have been down two rounds to none at that point, simply weathering the storm would not be enough. When Dvalishvili advanced to half guard, O’Malley took the chance to return to his feet, but was promptly returned to the canvas. The challenger stood once again, and the rinse-and-repeat was on, with the challenger looking more deflated each time he was dumped back onto the floor. After one final mat return, O’Malley stood up once again and this time Dvalishvili snared him in a front headlock. A possible anaconda choke turned to a north-south choke, and as Dvalishvili bore down on the neck, O’Malley was forced to tap out. Referee Jason Herzog moved in to save “Suga” at 4:42 of Round 3. The win, Dvalishvili’s 13th in a row, brought his record to 20-4 overall (13-2 UFC); O’Malley fell to 18-3 with one no contest (10-2, 1 NC UFC) and now faces an uncertain road back to the title picture after consecutive losses to the champ.

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Harrison Snatches Pena’s Arm, Belt

In the co-main event, Kayla Harrison picked up the hardware many suspected was hers for the taking since the moment she signed with the UFC last year. Facing a tough, wily veteran opponent in defending bantamweight champ Julianna Pena, Harrison entered as the biggest favorite of any undisputed title challenger this decade. For her part, Pena, who had spent a decade facing the division’s best, showed no fear of the former Olympic and Professional Fighters League champ. Once the two went to work, Harrison’s advantages in size and strength were starkly obvious, but Pena nonetheless made the first round a tense, competitive affair, as she refused to make anything easy for the challenger. Harrison took Pena down into side control, but Pena avoided taking much damage, slowed things down and regained guard. A 10-9 round in the making became 10-8 when Pena was docked a point for a pair of illegal upkicks, but any observers watching or hoping for an upset could see a path to the champ weathering the early storm, then taking over late.

Harrison had no intention of letting the fight reach that point. She secured another takedown around the midpoint of Round 2 and went to work once again, this time advancing to half guard and working for an arm-triangle choke. The champ defended well, and looked to be in the clear as the final 30 seconds of the round wound down, but Harrison had another trick left in the bag. Right before the 10-second clapper, she grabbed a kimura on Pena’s left arm and wrenched, eliciting the tap at 4:55, spurring referee Vitor Ribeiro into action.

The emphatic finish inaugurated a new era at women’s bantamweight, one that is likely to get weird almost immediately. Amanda Nunes, the former two-division champ, onetime American Top Team stablemate of Harrison, and consensus GOAT of the women’s divisions, entered the Octagon and announced her intention to return to fight Harrison. If that is a one-off comeback, it may leave at least one UFC division in chaos, but those are problems for another day. For now, there is a new woman atop the bantamweight mountain—and she looked utterly dominant. Harrison is now 19-1 overall, 3-0 in the Octagon, while Pena fell to 12-6 (8-4 UFC) in defeat.

Pyfer Passes Gastelum

Finally colliding after their bout was postponed from UFC Mexico City last year, Joe Pyfer turned aside veteran Kelvin Gastelum in a middleweight tilt that looked destined for a quick and violent end, only to turn surprisingly competitive late. “Bodybagz” did his best to live up to his nickname, as he met Gastelum in the center of the Octagon and promptly began blowing him up with crushing right hands. Pyfer floored Gastelum cleanly twice in the first round and while the Arizonan’s legendarily stout chin and powers of recovery allowed him to hear the final horn, there was little reason to think things would change in subsequent rounds. However, Pyfer had a harder time in Round 2. Abandoning the combination punching that had worked so well for him, he began stalking the shorter man, trying to measure him for a single, fight-ending shot. Not only did that shot not come, but it opened things up for Gastelum to land some punches of his own. The result was a round that, while still clearly a Pyfer round, was much closer and left the sneaking idea that the veteran might find his way back into the fight. Pyfer came out for Round 3 with a renewed commitment to punches in bunches, and the result was that he took over early. The always-game Gastelum was never completely out of it, and appeared to be winning the round by the midpoint, but the final two minutes saw the pace slow as both fighters either tired or grew more cautious. The horn sounded in an audibly unhappy Prudential Center, but Pyfer’s early work was enough to carry the day by scores of 29-28, 29-27 and 30-27. With the win, the Philly native moved to 14-3 overall, 6-1 in the UFC; Gastelum fell to 19-10 with one no contest, 14-11 with one no contest since winning “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 17 a dozen years ago.

Bautista Dunks Mix

Tasked with welcoming one of the most highly anticipated free agents to join the UFC in years, Mario Bautista (16-2, 9-2 UFC) proved equal to the test and then some, as he dominated Patrick “Patchy” Mix for three rounds. Mix, a former Bellator MMA bantamweight champ and discontented Professional Fighters League acquisition, had his hands full immediately, as Bautista walked him onto several flush fight hands to the face and chest. Bautista continued to hammer “Patchy,” mixing in solid two-handed punch combinations and leg and body kicks with increasing confidence, bloodying his mouth and leaving him looking shockingly inert. Whether it was part of his game plan or simply because said game plan had gone out the window, Mix made no serious attempt to take Bautista down in Round 1. He came out sharper and more aggressive for the middle frame, and began landing his own strikes with greater frequency, but still made no particular effort to bring the fight into his world. The result was round that felt closer than the first, but still clearly favored the crisper, harder-hitting Bautista.

Heading into the final frame, Mix’s corner advised him that he needed to do something big, all but telling him he was down two rounds to none. Mix responded with a takedown attempt early that Bautista evaded with ease, leaving the prize free agent on all fours, grasping at nothing. Mix, to his credit, bit down on his mouthguard and pressed the issue, stalking forward and throwing hard strikes, but Bautista remained composed, accurate and supremely confident. While the fight never turned into a full-on rout, it was a serious drubbing that made Mix’s pre-fight claims of being “on a different level” either bitterly ironic—or accurate, just not in the way he may have meant. Mix landed a couple of stinging punches late but was not able to capitalize on either. The judges scored the bout in favor of the MMA Lab export by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27), his eighth straight victory and perhaps the most important one yet. Mix’s deflating debut left him 20-2 overall and with plenty to prove in his next outing.

Holland Throttles Luque

In the welterweight pay-per-view opener, Kevin Holland was his usual jovial-meets-brash self but delivered a performance that was all business against Vicente Luque. Holland got out to a fast start, tagging Luque with long punches and a stream of his trademark in-cage chatter. Luque appeared unfazed by the talk, but struggled with the speed and power, and got very much the worst of his early clinch and takedown attempts. On multiple occasions, Holland punished Luque in close quarters, including an elbow strike that raised a huge lump behind his left ear. Luque came out game for Round 2, but once again Holland turned his foe’s aggressive tendencies against him, hurting “The Silent Assassin” on the feet, shucking off a takedown attempt and snaring his man in a tight brabo choke as he tried to stand. Luque, one of the UFC’s all-time leaders in finishes using that technique, joined his fellow D’Arce specialist Michael Chiesa in getting a dose of his own medicine from Holland. The tap came at 1:03 of Round 2, giving the “Trailblazer” his second win of 2025 and sending him to 28-13 overall with one no contest, 15-10 with one no contest in the UFC. Luque fell to 23-11-1 overall; 16-7 since graduating from Season 21 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”