Absolutely dominant. Merab Dvalishvili is that good.
Dvalishvili submitted Sean O’Malley in the second round to retain his men’s bantamweight title at UFC 361 Saturday night at Prudential Center after being taken down again and again through the just under 10-minute fight.
O’Malley had a tough time stopping the offensive onslaught coming at him, as Dvalishvili kept coming forward and couldn’t be stopped.
Dvalishvili looked up at the clock and saw there was 30 seconds left in the second round, and went for a neck crank and guillotine attempt, which forced O’Malley to go to his back.
Dvalishvili then adjusted and O’Malley could do nothing but tap.
Merab Dvalishvili celebrates after defeating Sean O’Malley in UFC 316. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect“I am on top of the world,” Dvalishvili said after the fight.
It was an incredible performance from Dvalishvili, who now has defended his title twice after also defeating Umar Nurmagomedov in January.
Dvalishvili’s submission win sets him up to defend against Cory Sandhagan next time out.
Merab Dvalishvili knocks down Sean O’Malley to retain his UFC bantamweight title at UFC 316 on June 7, 2025. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn ImagesKayla Harrison is now arguably the most accomplished mixed martial artist in United States history after winning the women’s bantamweight title of Julianna Peña.
We saw the full assortment of absolute domination from the former PFL champion and judoka Olympic gold medalist, a submission win in the second round via Kimura lock.
Harrison’s dominant performance was mostly non-competitive as Peña landed just eight strikes in the loss.
She is now on a collision course with UFC legend Amanda Nunes who has come out of retirement.
Kayla Harrison celebrates after winning the women’s bantamweight title over Julianna Peña at UFC 316 on June 7, 2025. Vincent Carchietta-Imagn ImagesHarrison called out Nunes to enter the ring and after some encouragement from announcer Joe Rogan for security to open the cage door, she walked in and the two went face-to-face.
Nunes, who is set for induction this summer into the UFC Hall of Fame, said she would indeed fight Harrison at some point for the 135-pound belt.
The crowd went wild as the two engaged in a brief staredown.
“We’re going to bring women’s MMA to a whole new level,” Harrison said.
“I definitely want to fight Amanda. She’s the greatest of all time,” Harrison said. “I want to be the greatest of all time.”
— with AP
