Both the UFC men’s and women’s bantamweight belts will be on the line at UFC 316 from Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday (10 p.m. ET on ESPN PPV, with prelims at 8 p.m. on ESPN/ESPN+/Disney+ and early prelims at 6 p.m. on ESPN+/Disney+). Merab Dvalishvili (19-4) will defend his title in a rematch against Sean O’Malley (18-2) in the main event after Julianna Peña (13-5) guards hers against Kayla Harrison (18-1). Bantamweight legend Amanda Nunes, who will be enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame later this month, has confirmed that she plans to return to challenge for the belt again, regardless of who wins Saturday.
Elsewhere on the UFC 316 card, former Bellator champion Patchy Mix (20-1) makes his UFC debut against Mario Bautista (15-2), who is ranked the No. 6 bantamweight in ESPN’s divisional rankings. Then, Kelvin Gastelum (20-9) and Joe Pyfer (13-3) face off in a sneaky-good matchup that was rescheduled from March.
Follow along with ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale and Dre Waters as they break down the action and result from all 13 fights and bring you the sights and sounds from Newark.
