Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley title rematch booked

Sean O’Malley can have the possibility to get UFC gold again round his waist when he rematches Merab Dvalishvili within the UFC 316 most important occasion.

After dropping the bantamweight belt by unanimous determination to Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) final September at UFC 306, O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) will get an instantaneous rematch within the headlining act of the June 7 occasion at Prudential Middle in Newark, N.J.

UFC CEO Dana White introduced the information Tuesday on Instagram Dwell as a part of a sequence of UFC 316 matchups.

Dvalishvili, No. 1 within the newest USA TODAY Sports activities/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings, will proceed his promise to be an lively champion. He rotated simply 4 months after capturing gold to defeat the beforehand unbeaten Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January, and now he’ll look so as to add a second protection to his resume whereas including to his 11-fight unbeaten streak contained in the octagon.

No. 2-ranked O’Malley, for his half, can be a part of Dominick Cruz and T.J. Dillashaw as the one fighters with two separate title reigns at 135 kilos. “Suga” gained the title in August 2023 from Aljamain Sterling then went on to avenge his solely earlier loss in opposition to Marlon Vera in his first protection.

Now O’Malley has an opportunity to avenge his solely different loss to Dvalishvili and present his efficiency at UFC 306 was not his finest. After the defeat, O’Malley underwent hip surgical procedure, which he claimed hindered his coaching camp.

The newest lineup for UFC 316 now contains:

• Champ Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley – for bantamweight title
• Champ Julianna Peña vs. Kayla Harrison – for girls’s bantamweight title
• Mario Bautista vs. Marlon Vera
• Shamil Gaziev vs. Serghei Spivac
• Bruno Silva vs. Joshua Van
• Azamat Murzakanov vs. Johnny Walker

For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC 316.