Merab Dvalishvili is set to make the second defense of his bantamweight championship when the UFC 316 comes to Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday. Standing across the Octagon that night will be Sean O’Malley, the man Dvalishvili defeated in September 2024 to win the title.
Dvalishvili’s win in their first meeting derailed the hype train behind O’Malley, who the promotion had treated as a potential mega-star for the future. Instead of rolling to his second successful title defense, O’Malley was outwrestled for much of the fight and a late charge was not enough to steal the win from Dvalishvili.
While Dvalishvili has made one successful defense of the belt since the first meeting, taking a decision over Umar Nurmagomedov, O’Malley has not fought since losing the title.
There is a second championship fight set for UFC 316, with Julianna Pena defending the women’s bantamweight championship against Kayla Harrison. Harrison is a roughly -600 favorite to become champion, which would add a UFC title to accolades such as two…
