The UFC Bantamweight title will be on the line in the main event of UFC 316 when Merab Dvalishvili defends his belt against former champion Sean O’Malley.
Merab Dvalishvili beat Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in Saudi Arabia to win the title, ending the reign of the American after just two title defenses.
After Dvalishvili’s win over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, he set up a rematch with “Suga” in one of the biggest fights this year.
With the champion winning by unanimous decision, O’Malley will have to change his game if he wants to regain his title on June 7.
Will that happen? Let’s see what the Bloody Elbow staff has to say about Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley at UFC 316.
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UFC 316 main event predicted by Bloody Elbow staff
Jordan Ellis: Merab Dvalishvili deserves to be the favorite here. I could see him dominating Sean O’Malley on the ground again, for sure. However, I just have a sneaky feeling ‘Suga’ will catch him coming in and score an upset KO.
- PREDICTION: Sean O’Malley by KO.
Jamie Theodosi: Although this fight has a very good chance of going exactly how their first meeting went, I think O’Malley has had a far better camp this time around. Despite Merab’s relentlessness, I think ‘Suga’ Sean will catch him similarly to how he caught Sterling and will reclaim his title.
- PREDICTION: Sean O’Malley by KO.
Harvey Leonard: A striker of Sean O’Malley’s caliber is always capable of shutting the lights off with a knockout blow out of nowhere, but my gut is telling me he once again won’t find it. And against a machine like Merab Dvalishvili, the scorecards don’t look like a viable path to victory for the challenger.
- PREDICTION: Merab Dvalishvili by decision
James Sweetnam: In a truly remarkable event at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Merab Dvalishvili dominated Sean O’Malley, ripping the bantamweight title away from ‘Suga’ with a magnificent performance.
While the American has gone above and beyond in training camp to try and make the necessary adjustments to reclaim his belt, I believe ‘The Machine’ simply has his number and will emerge from UFC 316 with another unanimous decision victory.
- PREDICTION: Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision
Donagh Corby: Sean O’Malley is perhaps the only person alive to feel that he won the first meeting between him and Merab Dvalishvili back at UFC 306. But he does have something of a point in that MMA fights are hard to score, and he only needs to win one more round than he did last time to get the win now. Can he do it? Unlikely.
- PREDICTION: Merab Dvalishvili by decision
O’Malley will challenge Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 316 on June 7th at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.