This June is going to be a month of rematches at least as far as UFC is concerned. The main event of UFC 316 is going to be a rerun fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley. Dvalishvili is the reigning bantamweight champion and he will be looking to remain one after facing former champion O’Malley. Both men are familiar with the ground as this is not their first title bout, nor is it the first time to headlining an event.
As far as the co-main event goes it is another bantamweight class duel, but in the women’s division. We will have a chance to see Kayla Harrison going all out against Julianna Pena in an attempt to take her belt. These two events will have the eyes of the world on them, but we shouldn’t neglect other fighters. In a matter of few days we will have an opportunity to see in action the likes of Vicente Luque who will go against Kevin Holland, Pyfer vs. Gastelum, and Vera vs. Bautista among many others. Are you interested? Let’s see more details about UFC 316.
UFC 316 Venue & Date
As we said, there’s only a little more than a week before it’s time for UFC 316. Its venue is more than familiar to fans of MMA, and we’re talking about Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, United States. It will be hard to be patient and wait for 7th of June, but it’s what needs to be done, as time flows in its own way and tempo. An event that promises a lot, with most being expected from the likes of Dvalishvili and O’Malley which will be the two men leading this event as the main event of the evening. Let’s chat a bit about both of these fighters.
Merab Dvalishvili
It was Sean O’Malley who lost the title in the hands of Merab Dvalishvili. The bantamweight division title bout in 2024 was the pinnacle of an amazing run by Merab that saw him rake up 10 consecutive wins. A true contender and a champion in his own right. Merab Dvalishvili is not shy to accept a challenge and since defeating O’Malley he already defended his belt once. It was against Umar Nurmagomedov, when after an impressive performance he even received a fight of the night bonus. The Georgian fighter proved to be a real champion and worthy of the belt. So far he holds an 19-4 MMA record. Since switching to UFC he’s been more than impressive with 12 consecutive wins, with one of those being for the title, and other to defend the belt. What’s interesting is that Merab lost his two initial fights in the UFC, but managed to turn his career around in an impressive manner. It’s been a long and hard way to reach his current level which shows an amazing prowess in wrestling and cardio no other fighter managed to counter in the last 12 bouts. If you’re looking for Dvalishvili to add another win to his resume, and you’re willing to bet on it, don’t do it before you check out these UFC 316 predictions and betting odds.
Sean O’Malley
A fan favourite during his title reign, Sean O’Malley finds himself on a bit of a slope in recent times. A high-end striker and a top performer in the octagon, O’Malley has managed to amass a serious following during his UFC career. His style is one of a kind, and is seen as true to the origins of stand-up fighting. While he lost his title to Merab Dvalishvili, everything in between has been of the highest standard. Since 2020 he’s had 10 fights which resulted in 8 wins, and all of those wins were deserving of the performance bonus that O’Malley has collected. Before Merab took over, O’Malley had won it against Merab’s teammate Aljamain Sterling, and defended it once more vs. Marlon Vera. Before Dvalishvili, the only other defeat Sean has had was in the hands of Marlon Vera. So far, O’Malley has an 18-2 MMA record and he will be looking to get back to winning ways on June 7th.
Julianna Peña
Peña has had an interesting career so far. The pinnacle of her performances in the octagon came in 2021 when she won the bantamweight title against Amanda Nunes. With Nunes being one of the best fighters the division has ever seen, winning against her was an ideal way to win the title for Peña. A submission for ages. While a massive win, this was not a laureate on which Julianna was able to rest on, as Nunes came back stronger than ever and took her title back, only to vacate it after the named rematch. After Nunes left, the division was everyone’s for the taking, and it was once again Julianna Peña taking it against Pennington. A split decision that made her a champion once again. On June 7th, the two time UFC champion will be looking to extend her MMA legacy with a title defence, and extend her record that currently stands at 11-5, with 8 of those wins coming in UFC, with 3 defeats with the same company.
Kayla Harrison
Mrs. Harrison is entering this bout from another universe. She is a 2-time Olympic medallist, and a two-time PFL champion. She only joined the UFC in 2014, and is undefeated so far. The best part is that she looked dominant in both of her fights so far. If she’s your reason to bet on UFC 316, we fully understand it. Her two UFC bouts were against respectable opposition and so far she has managed to submit a former champion Holly Holm, and to win a unanimous decision vs. Ketlen Vieira. So far, in her entire MMA and fighting career she holds an 18-1 record and she is entering this bout high on confidence, which is a requirement if one wants to take the title home.
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley
As we usually do, we’re going to keep the main and co main event in our focus. Merab and Sean know each other as they’ve fought before. The last bout was a bit of a surprise as no one had expected such a dominant performance by Dvalishivili. His wrestling was superb on the day, and O’Malley had no answer to it. While O’Malley is better known as a fighter who knows how to land a strike, he failed to deliver the last time the two men met. Instead, he was outmatched 214-49 in terms of strikes. Those who saw the match know that Merab was the clear winner of each round. Later on, during his title defence he delivered a similarly dominant performance. Merab is on a hot run, and it is no surprise that UFC betting odds see him as a clear favourite to defend his title once more.
O’Malley, on the other hand, will be looking to get the belt back. He will be fresh and healthy in terms of his body condition, but a bit rusty in terms of his skills considering he hasn’t fought since he lost the belt to Dvalishvili. While a clear loser during their last bout, O’Malley did put on a fight, and even landed a serious front kick to Merab’s body. During the last outing the spark in his fight came later on, and this time if he wants to win, Sean needs to bring out the firepower from the start.
Our prediction for this match is a KO/TKO win by Merab. O’Malley will have to start this bout on a high note, in an attempt to deliver a finishing blow early on, as that’s where his only chance for a win lies. This will take the breath from his lungs, and he will not be able to parry Merab through the whole match. Considering the engine Merab has on him, we can see him landing the final blow as early as in the third round.
Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison
Pena vs. Harrison, while a co-main event, is nowhere near the standard set by O’Malley and Dvalishvili. Peña is a two time UFC champion, but many would agree that she didn’t deserve those titles. If we’re looking at her latest bout, vs. Pennington, she barely managed to scrape a win. Yet, the bantamweight is currently in a poor condition and Peña and Harrison is the best it can offer. Due to poor state in the division , here, the title challenger is favoured heavily to win. Harrison has a chance to become UFCs darling, and a win here would secure her legacy. On the other side, Peña has proven over and over again that she relishes the role of an underdog. She has proven this at work when she took Amanda Nunes with odds on her win being +700 at that time.
Her opponent, Harrison, is on a fast track to become one of the faces of the company. This was to be expected as she had a strong pedigree from her days at PFL and her history at the Olympics. She comes off as a strong fighter who excels in wrestling. While being favoured to win this bout, and become the new UFC bantamweight champion, she should not underestimate Peña. The American fighter knows how to submit an opponent and she will be looking to do that vs. Harrison.
Our pick is Julianna Peña win, as she has more experience, knows how to take the fight to lengths, and if given the time, she will lead this bout to another unanimous decision in her favour. Also, the odds are too good for us to miss on them, even if Peña loses the bout.
How to Bet on UFC Fights?
Betting on UFC and MMA in general is easy. But, only if you choose a reputable partner such as Stake, for example. It all starts with you opening an account. If you’re new to sports betting, it is good to know that major online casinos and sports betting outlets provide their users with guides that hold all the details you need to know about the games they provide. If, for now, you want to stick with us, here are some general steps to take:
- It all starts with opening an account and logging into it. In order to make a bet, you will need to deposit the funds first. Major sports betting outlets offer players with more than enough options of depositing funds to their bankrolls. You can do it via fiat currency, through a credit card, banking transfer, or if you’re playing at an crypto casino via one of the available digital currencies such as BTC , ETH , USDT , EOS , BUSD , Doge , LTC , TRX , or SOL.
- Once the funds are in place, it is time to search for your betting market. If MMA is what you’re looking for you need to navigate toward the section dedicated to MMA, and dig a bit deeper to find the UFC. Even if UFC is not what you’re targeting in the MMA section you can find all upcoming fighting events, matches, and odds.
- As we said, if you’re new to the game, you need to equip yourself with knowledge, and the best way to do it is by reading some picks and predictions for upcoming matches. There are many blogs, such as this one, delving deep into the subject of all upcoming fights and making predictions about them.
- Once you’ve decided on which matches to bet on, you need to make your picks, and add them to your slip. Once you do this, it is necessary to decide how much you will wager, and confirm the bets.
If you have any issues with the entire process of picking your bouts and making bets, you can always seek help through the customer support section. As far as anything else goes, all that is left is to wait for June 7th and the UFC 316.
