UFC 316 is in the books after a wild night in New Jersey. Merab Dvalishvili proved why he belongs in the pound-for-pound best discussion with another incredible performance and win over Sean O’Malley. Meanwhile, Kayla Harrison was finally crowned a UFC champion after running past Julianna Pena to claim the bantamweight title.
Dvalishvili’s improved boxing game seemed to put O’Malley off guard from the jump. The native of Georgia mixed his striking well before bouncing with his takedowns in the third round to secure the fight-ending choke. Dvalishvili has now won 13 fights in a row and looks to be among the top fighters in the sport today.
Harrison, meanwhile, also made it look easy out there in demolishing the champion Pena. The two-time Olympic gold medalist used her incredible grappling ability to neutralize Pena before securing the kimura for the win. After the fight, former champion Amanda Nunes came to the Octagon for a face off to build a potential fight between the former teammates. Nunes had previously retired in 2023 and will be inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame later this month.
CBS Sports was with you throughout fight week with the latest news, in-depth features and betting advice to consider. Thanks for stopping by and we’ll see you at UFC 317 in Las Vegas for International Fight Week.
UFC 316 fight card, results
- Merab Dvalishvili (c) def. Sean O’Malley via third-round submission (choke)
- Kayla Harrison def. Julianna Pena (c) via second-round submission (kimura)
- Joe Pyfer def. Kelvin Gastelum via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 30-27)
- Mario Bautista def. Patchy Mix via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
- Kevin Holland def. Vicente Luque via second-round submission (d’arce choke)
- Joshua Van def. Bruno Silva via third-round TKO (punches)
- Azamat Murzakanov def. Brendson Ribeiro via first-round TKO (punches)
- Waldo Cortes-Acosta def. Serghei Spivac (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Andreas Gustafsson def. Khaos Williams via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Wang Cong def. Ariane da Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joo Sang Yoo def. Jeka Saragih (punch) via first-round knockout (punch)
- Quillan Salkilld def. Yanal Ashmouz via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- MarQuel Mederos def. Marc Choinski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
