UFC 316 takeaways: Merab Dvalishvili, Kayla Harrison bring the greatest of all time debates back into focus

UFC 316 set the foundation for some of the next title fights we’ll see in the future, as Merab Dvalishvili beat Sean O’Malley to retain the men’s bantamweight title and Kayla Harrison knocked off Julianna Peña to claim the women’s bantamweight championship on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey. Dvalishvili and Harrison won via submission.

Dvalishvili and Harrison’s next opponents appear to be all but set. It’s expected that Cory Sandhagen will challenge Dvalishvili, while the new women’s bantamweight title-holder is expected to face the women’s MMA GOAT, Amanda Nunes, in her next fight. Nunes announced that she will return to face the winner of Harrison-Peña earlier this week.

Brett Okamoto and Andreas Hale offer their takeaways from the biggest moments at UFC 316.

‘Dvalishvili is the bantamweight GOAT’ might not be a hot take anymore

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Merab Dvalishvili stops Sean O’Malley in dominant fashion to retain belt

Merab Dvalishvili celebrates after a massive win over Sean O’Malley in a rematch of their bout to retain the title at UFC 316.

There have been some exceptional bantamweights in UFC history, but it may be time to anoint Dvalishvili as the greatest of them all.

Yes, even while he’s still active.

Dvalishvili made it look easier the second time around against O’Malley and submitted the former champion in the third round. No, he doesn’t have as many title fight wins as TJ Dillashaw (5), Dominick Cruz (4) or his teammate, Aljamain Sterling (4), but the level of dominance that he has demonstrated since starting his UFC tenure 0-2 is astounding.

Dvalishvili extended his winning streak to 13, two behind Islam Makhachev’s 15 for the lead amongst active fighters. He also added to his all-time lead in successful takedowns with five against O’Malley. That brings his current total to 97 in 15 fights. The exclamation point on his remarkable run is that no judge has scored a fight in favor of his opponent. He’s defeated José Aldo, O’Malley (twice), Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan and Umar Nurmagomedov. All but Nurmagomedov have held UFC gold. The bantamweight division is a loaded weight class that is arguably the most stacked in the promotion’s history.

Watching him put on yet another suffocating performance against the division’s premier striker in O’Malley cemented his status. Between his improved striking, absurd cardio and relentless pressure, it’s going to be difficult to find a fighter with the perfect combination to beat Dvalishvili. Sandhagen appears to be next in line and presents some challenges with his length, but Sterling sliced right through him in 2020 and will surely provide pointers to his teammate.

It’s funny to believe that Dvalishvili received so much criticism for not fighting Sterling, but the reality was that he was loyal to his friend and simply waited for a title opportunity to present itself. Now that he holds gold, it doesn’t look like there’s any true threat to his reign. Former Bellator champion Patchy Mix was thought to be a formidable challenger but put up a dud in a loss against Mario Bautista on Saturday.

What’s scary is Dvalishvili hasn’t even reached his final form. His performance against O’Malley showcased a fighter who is still improving and adding tools to his game. His submission of O’Malley was his first in the UFC and only the second in his entire MMA career. Now that he’s adding a finishing element to his skill set, the gap between Dvalishvili and the rest of the division might only widen. — Hale

Kayla Harrison is the favorite over Amanda Nunes in my eyes

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Amanda Nunes, Kayla Harrison face off after Harrison wins belt

Kayla Harrison beats Julianna Peña and calls out Amanda Nunes, who declares in the Octagon she’s coming back.

Allow me to overreact, but Chael Sonnen dropped a line this week leading up to UFC 316 and it has stuck with me. “You don’t get better at something by not doing it.”

Nunes is the GOAT and that might literally never change. She has set such a legacy in MMA, it’s nearly impossible to surpass it. But Harrison completely ran through Peña. There were concerns about how she would handle the cut to 135 pounds and what it might do to her cardio, but she’s appeared to essentially master one of the most difficult weight cuts in the sport.

She’s familiar with Nunes from their time as sparring partners at American Top Team, so there won’t be as much of an “aura” factor for Harrison to overcome. MMA is a sport in which you can get old overnight, and even though I don’t believe that’s what has happened or will happen to the 37-year-old Nunes, I think it would be naive to expect her to come back better than she was when she retired in 2023.

Sometimes, a mental break can be great, but this short retirement doesn’t really qualify as that to me. This feels like Nunes accomplished what she wanted to in MMA already but misses the sport. I believe she’ll look good and has a chance to win. I’m not suddenly saying the “Lioness” isn’t champion material, but Harrison is the favorite in my eyes. — Okamoto

Mix continues ‘Octagon jitters’ theory with poor performance

I’m not sure who that man was in the Octagon against Bautista, but it surely wasn’t former Bellator bantamweight champion Mix. The hype surrounding Mix’s UFC debut was palpable because of his exceptional grappling pedigree. However, Mix completely abandoned his calling card in a bizarre debut and opted to make it an easy night for Bautista by striking with him for 15 minutes.

UFC CEO Dana White has routinely cited the “Octagon jitters,” a term to describe the anxiety and nerves fighters experience before competing in the UFC for the first time, and Mix did next to nothing to dispel the notion. Mix was slow, tentative and not remotely close to the fighter many believed would be a contender in the bantamweight division. His performance was on par with Patricio Pitbull’s UFC debut against Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314 in April, which was also a far cry from the wrecking machine that made him arguably the greatest fighter in Bellator history.

Mix will have plenty of chances to prove himself during his UFC tenure. But dropping a decision without even attempting a takedown until the final round against Bautista suggests the Octagon jitters phenomenon might be real. — Hale