UFC 316 is one of the biggest events of 2025 and has a number of thrilling fights for fans to enjoy.
Two of the top fighters in the UFC clash in a highly anticipated rematch when Merab Dvalishvili defends his UFC Bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley in the main event.
Dvalishvili beat O’Malley last year to claim the title before defending it against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in impressive fashion.
Elsewhere, the co-main event sees the UFC Women’s Bantamweight title on the line as Kayla Harrison challenges Julianna Pena in a top women’s MMA bout.
Ahead of UFC 316, the experts at Bloody Elbow have made their staff picks for the two main event fights, as well as the Performance of the Night and their Fight of the Night.
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Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley predictions
- Harvey Leonard – Merab Dvalishvili
- Jordan Ellis – Sean O’Malley
- Kyle Dimond – Merab Dvalishvili
- Donagh Corby – Sean O’Malley
- Chris De Santiago – Sean O’Malley
The main event of UFC 316 is an intriguing fight, with the Bloody Elbow experts torn on which fighter will walk out with the UFC Bantamweight championship.
In the same way, he could regain the belt, O’Malley is predicted to be the winner by a split decision from the experts.
O’Malley has completely changed his preparation for the rematch with Dvalishvili, removing distractions like social media and cannabis to make him extra prepared to take on “The Machine”.
Chris, Donagh, and Jordan all think he will beat the Georgian at UFC 316. “Suga” is capable of knocking Dvalishvili out, but also only needs to win one more round than last time in order to take home the gold.
However, Harvey and Kyle can’t look past the champion retaining his belt. Despite Dvalishvili losing 2 of his first 3 fights in his career, he has achieved a 12-fight winning streak, with all but one of the wins coming via unanimous decision.
They predict that the Georgian will repeat his heroics of the first fight and take O’Malley the distance to retain his title at UFC 316.
Julianna Pena vs Kayla Harrison predictions
- Harvey Leonard – Kayla Harrison
- Jordan Ellis – Julianna Pena
- Kyle Dimond – Kayla Harrison
- Donagh Corby – Julianna Pena
- Chris De Santiago – Kayla Harrison
The Bloody Elbow experts are once again split, but have veered towards Harrison to win the co-main event of UFC 316.
Amanda Nunes has also picked Harrison to beat Pena in what should give her confidence ahead of the UFC Bantamweight title fight.
Harvey, Kyle, and Chris all backed Harrison to take the title from Pena in New Jersey. The American has only fought twice in the UFC so far, but wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira catapulted her into title contention.
The Olympic gold medalist is an expert Judoka and could cause some huge issues for Pena, who already has five losses in her career compared to Harrison’s one.
However, Jordan and Donagh predict the champion will retain her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title at UFC 316.
Despite this being just her second fight in 3 years, Pena has shown she can beat the odds with her iconic UFC upset win over Amanda Nunes at UFC 269.
She may be the underdog for this fight, but the Venezuelan Vixen has proven she can beat anyone on her day. Whether June 7th is that day is another question entirely.
Fight of the Night predictions
- Harvey Leonard – Bruno Silva vs Joshua Van
- Jordan Ellis – Vicente Luque vs Kevin Holland
- Kyle Dimond – Vicente Luque vs Kevin Holland
- Donagh Corby – Khaos Williams vs Andreas Gustafsson
- Chris De Santiago – Bruno Silva vs Joshua Van
A mixture of predictions for UFC 316’s Fight of the Night shows the incredible depth the June 7 card has.
Donagh is most excited for the preliminary fight between Khaos Williams and Andreas Gustafsson.
This bout was added at short notice and looks to be an unpredictable fight, with Gustafsson having a 4-inch reach disadvantage, but winning his last three fights via brutal KO.
Meanwhile, Jordan and Kyle predict that Vicente Luque vs Kevin Holland will be the fight of the night. Luque bounced back from a bad run of form to choke out Temba Gorimbo in his last fight and will hope to add another win by beating a man who has lost four of his last six fights.
A loss for Holland could end his UFC career, while a win for Luque would help him improve on his #14 ranked position in the rankings.
Finally, Chris and Harvey can see the fight night bonus going to the fight between Bruno Silva and Joshua Van.
This cancelled fight from UFC 313 was rescheduled for UFC 316, pitting the impressive Brazilian looking to bounce back from defeat against Manel Cape by beating his American opponent.
Performance of the Night predictions
- Harvey Leonard – Patchy Mix
- Jordan Ellis – Joe Pyfer
- Kyle Dimond – Patchy Mix
- Donagh Corby – Patchy Mix
- Chris De Santiago – Patchy Mix
The Bloody Elbow experts are almost in agreement that the debuting Patchy Mix will win the $50,000 bonus for the Performance of the Night award at UFC 316.
After Marlon Vera withdrew from his fight with Mario Bautista, former Bellator champion Patchy Mix was drafted in to save the bout.
Mix makes his UFC debut against Bautista at the event, with only one loss to his name in an impressive MMA career so far.
He is a submission specialist, and fans are expecting him to put away a man who has tapped just once in his career to introduce himself to the UFC faithful.
However, Jordan has a different prediction for the Performance of the Night. He predicts that Joe Pyfer will impress against Kevin Gastelum.
Their fight in March was postponed after Pyfer was forced to pull out due to illness, and Jordan thinks that now he’s back to full health he will put on a great performance at UFC 316.