UFC 316 touted some extremely talented and high-ranking fighters squaring off in Newark, New Jersey.
The Garden State hosted the UFC for the 21st time on Saturday, this time, with the card being headlined by a pair of bantamweight title fights. In the co-main event, former Olympian, Kayla Harrison, bested Julianna Pena to successfully capture the belt. And in the final fight of the night, a rematch between, Merab Dvalishvilli and Sean O’Malley, ‘The Machine’ submitted ‘Suga’ to retain his 135lb title once again. This five-fight main card was all action and boasted three submission finishes. Some well-known veterans on this edition of losers and one former Bellator champ with an abysmal debut.
Sean O’Malley
Merab Dvalishvili dominated and submitted Sean O’Malley in the third round of their title fight in the main event of UFC 316. The rematch- in the makings since O’Malley lost his belt to Merab, last September, was highly anticipated.
Thanks to Merab, O’Malley has now lost twice in a row for the first time in his pro career. Heading into the fight Sean was the #1 ranked contender. There are a couple of different directions that Sean could choose to take this train at this point. He could look to move up to the featherweight division to mix it up as he has a large frame for bantamweight. However, there are still real contenders at bantamweight should he want to try again for the belt. That said, the path to the title shot is filled with grappling heavy fighters. It’d likely be wise for Sean to avoid a matchup like Umar Nurmagomedov and instead opt for the winner of Marcus McGhee vs Petr Yan. The pair a scheduled to fight on July 26th. Yan is currently ranked at #2 while McGhee is getting a huge opportunity at #13.
Marcus is 4-0 in the UFC, stopping three of his opponents and earning as many performance bonuses. Marcus was last in action in November with his unanimous decision victory over Jonathan Martinez. Petr fought Sean back in 2022 losing a controversial split decision in a bout that landed Fight of the Night honors. Petr would then lose to Merab before bouncing back, winning unanimous decisions against Song Yadong and most recently, Deiveson Figueiredo. A striker’s delight in the making, no matter who wins. And the potential for the fans to see a very entertaining rematch that has a lot of bad blood behind it. Also potential for fans to see new blood in the division against another former champion. This is a good fight for Sean to get his bearings to see if he should potentially move up in the future.
O’Malley’s next fight: Winner of Petr Yan vs Marcus McGhee
Julianna Pena
Kayla Harrison took just two rounds to smoother and submit Julianna Pena on Saturday. Pena, who has struggled with activity due to injury over the course of her entire UFC career, is now 8-4 with the promotion. This is a tough pill for Pena to swallow, as Kayla looked a lot stronger than her in there.
Julianna has a couple of opponents that make sense for her to take on next. Pena could take on Ketlen Vieira who is ranked at #3 in the division. Vieira has a similar UFC record to Pena at 9-4. And she has a split decision loss to Raquel Pennington and her most recent defeat is a unanimous decision to Kayla Harrison, last October. This is a matchup that makes a lot of sense except for the fact that Ketlen egregiously missed weight for her most recent fight against Macy Chiasson on May 30. Even though Vieira got the unanimous decision victory, the fight had to be moved up to 145lbs (she weighed in at 146lbs).
With that fact in mind, a more deserving opponent would be Norma Dumont. Norma, who is ranked at #4 at bantamweight, is 8-2 within the UFC. Dumont is currently riding a five-fight win streak with her most recent win coming over Irene Aldana in September of last year. Norma is ready to fight and a bout against Pena could offer a fresh a competitive matchup to the division. Booking this one comes down to timing and what Pena is thinking next for her career- leaning toward the Dumont matchup but that’s only if Dumont hasn’t done enough already to warrant a title shot (extremely doubtful).
Pena’s next fight: Ketlen Vieira or Norma Dumont
Kelvin Gastelum
Joe Pyfer found success on the feet at UFC 316 on Saturday, dropping Kelvin Gastelum twice on the way to a unanimous decision victory. Both middleweight fighters were presumably narrowly outside of the rankings. Gastelum is now 2-2 since mid 2021 but has had five fights cancelled in the time frame as well. Somehow, The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 winner is still just 33 years old. A smaller middleweight, with no chance of a welterweight move due to his weight cutting history, Gastelum will have to be extremely selective with his matchups.
We could realistically see Kelvin taking on any number of opponents in his next fight. But ideally, Kelvin should fight Gerald Meerschaert in his next bout. Meerschaert is 12-11 in the UFC since being signed in 2016. The submission specialist is currently riding a two-fight losing streak but has fought nearly everyone at middleweight. Gerald is 3-3 in his last six fights including a 2023 first round TKO loss to Joe Pyfer. Gerald was last in action back in April when he lost a unanimous decision to Brad Tavares. The grappling prowess of Meerschaert vs the explosiveness, boxing and wrestling of Gastelum. Good fight for the fans. Winner firmly secures themselves in the gatekeeper status at the weight class. Loser could have a tough time gaining respect moving forward especially if the fight ends with a finish.
Gastelum’s next fight: Gerald Meerschaert
Patchy Mix
UFC newcomer and former Bellator champion Patchy Mix had no answer for Mario Bautista‘s standup on his way to a unanimous decision loss Saturday. Mix stepped in after Bautista’s original opponent, #7 ranked Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera, was forced to withdraw due to injury.
Mario made his UFC debut against Corey Sandhagen in 2019- heading into Saturday he was riding a seven-fight win streak including victories over Ricky Simon and Jose Aldo. Even though Bautista is ranked at #10 he’s super tough. No excuses though, it was an ugly and head-scratching performance out of Patchy. With that said, Mix will need to establish where he fits within the ranks by getting in the win column in his next bout.
Giving Patchy the loser of Cody Garbrandt vs Raoni Barcelos could make a lot of sense. The two bantamweights just outside of the top 15 ranks are scheduled to fight on June 14th. Logic here is that Cody is a former UFC bantamweight champion himself. But he has stumbled in recent years in the form of numerous cancelled fights, injuries and Cody is 2-3 since mid-2020. Garbrandt was last in action in April of last year when he was submitted by Deiveson Figueiredo. Bracelos is a 12-fight UFC vet that has been with the promotion since 2018. Raoni is 2-2 in his last four fights, but those two losses are against Umar Nurmagomedov and Kyler Phillips. The 38-year-old bested hot-prospect, Payton Talbott, in his last time in the cage back in January.
Either way, a fight against either man would offer Mix an immediate chance to regain some lost respect. Both men are respectable opponents but have displayed some chinks in their armor in recent bouts. Good test to find out where Patchy belongs.
Mix’s next fight: Loser of Cody Garbrandt vs. Raoni Barcelos
Vicente Luque
Vicente Luque weathered some good shots early, only to be submitted in the second round of his UFC 316 main card opener, against Kevin Holland, on Saturday. Luque entered the fight ranked at #14 in the welterweight division while his opponent was unranked. Luque has struggled in recent years and he’s 2-4 since 2021. In comparison, before that, Luque was on a 10-1 streak within the UFC.
Vicente is 16-7 with the UFC in his 10th year with promotion. He will likely slide out of the top 15 welterweight rankings.
Sticking with a pick from a recent edition of Losers, Luque should take on Gilbert Burns in his next fight. Gilbert last fought on May 17th in a main event against Michael Morales. He was TKO’d midway thru the first round. The loss was his fourth in a row and he has not won since his April of 2023 victory against Jorge Masvidal. Gilbert is still ranked at #10 within the welterweight division and has had some extremely daunting opponents in recent years (Michael Morales, Sean Brady, Jack Della Maddalena, Belal Muhammad). At 38 years old, Burns isn’t done yet but would be a good matchup for a fighter like Luque.
The timing matches up and somehow these two UFC vets haven’t faced each other before. Easy booking to make here that could easily be a co-main event type fight. Winner claws right back into relevancy while the loser likely gets the official ‘journeyman’ title.
Vicente’s next fight: Gilbert Burns
