The countdown has begun.
“Countdown to UFC 316” gives fight fans a closer look at the upcoming UFC 316 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for this Sat. night (June 7, 2025) at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. UFC 316 will be headlined by the bantamweight title fight rematch pitting reigning division kingpin, Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili, against former 135-pound titleholder, “Suga” Sean O’Malley. In the UFC 316 PPV co-main event, current women’s bantamweight champion, Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Pena, puts her 135-pound strap on the line opposite former PFL titleholder, Kayla Harrison.
“This rematch is a little bit weird because it’s hard to motivate myself,” Dvalishvili told ESPN MMA. “I’m fighting the same guy, but I know this guy will be more dangerous now. First fight, I was game. I had a game plan. I knew it was gonna work against him, and he had a game plan, and I stopped his game plan. Now I don’t know what game plan he gonna have. I was relaxed in the first fight, but now I don’t wanna be relaxed, because I know Sean will change his game plan, and he will make some big adjustments.”
“I’m relaxed,” Dvalishvili continued. “But I am telling myself, ‘You gotta be motivated. You gotta be more hungry than what you was in first fight.’ I wanna try to finish him, I wanna try to strike, I wanna try different things, and I know Sean will change his plan. He’s saying he’s gonna be a 70-percent better version, and I wanna see this, I wanna test this. I’m more excited for this.”
For the rest of the UFC 316 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
