Many thought it was an April Fool’s joke, but UFC CEO Dana White was not joking when he announced two title fights heading to the Prudential Center in New Jersey at UFC 316 on June 7.
View this post on Instagram
“UFC 316 is at the Prudential Center in New Jersey June 7th, and the main event is Merab vs. Sugar Sean O’Malley,” said White on Instagram live.
“Co-main event! Women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Peña’s taking on Kayla Harrison.”
Dvalishvili (19-4) took the title off O’Malley at Noche UFC last September in the main event. Dvalishvili had his way with O’Malley in that fight, and then turned Umar Nurmagomedov away in his first title defense.
O’Malley (18-2) will get his first fight in 2025 after losing the title to Dvalishvili last year. The former bantamweight champion will attempt to become a two-time UFC champion in New Jersey.
In the co-main event Harrison will get her first shot at UFC gold in a much anticipated bout against Peña.
Peña (11-5) fights for the first time since winning the title against Raquel Pennington at UFC 307 last October in a close split-decision victory. She’ll look to continue her second run as champion at UFC 316.
Harrison (18-1) hopes to make good on her goal of winning a UFC title for the first time in her promotional run. Harrison made her debut against Holly Holm at UFC 300 where she took the victory via second round submission. She then went on to defeat Ketlen Vieira via decision at UFC 307.
UFC 316 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on June 7 on PPV. The card, as of now, looks as follows:
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2 – UFC bantamweight title
Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison – UFC women’s bantamweight title
Mario Bautista vs. Chito Vera
Johnny Walker vs. Azamat Murzakanov
Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van
Serghei Spivac vs. Shamil Gaziev
