Merab Dvalishvili faces Sean O’Malley in a rematch whereas Julianna Pena places her bantamweight title up for grabs towards Kayla Harrison within the new most important and co-main occasions simply introduced for UFC 316 on June 7 from the Prudential Heart in Newark, N.J.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the new fights on Tuesday.
Dvalishvili appears to be like for the second protection of his 135-pound title after he vanquished Umar Nurmagomedov again in January in a shocking five-round efficiency. That battle got here simply 4 months after Dvalishvili claimed the bantamweight title with an much more dominant efficiency over O’Malley at UFC 306 on the Sphere in Las Vegas.
The rematch will get booked with out O’Malley truly competing once more since shedding his title to Dvalishvili however he’s getting a second crack on the Georgian fighter once they meet once more in June.
As for the co-main occasion, Pena returns to motion following a razor-close choice over Raquel Pennington that topped her as a two-time UFC bantamweight champion. Total, Pena has gone 3-1 in her previous 4 fights, which included an announcement efficiency over Amanda Nunes to turn into champion for the primary time again in 2021.
Now she faces a two-time Olympic champion in Harrison in June after the previous PFL champion signed with the UFC in free company and shortly rattled off back-to-back wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira to earn a title shot.
Total, Harrison is 18-1 as a professional and she or he’ll try and turn into UFC champion when she faces Pena in June.
