Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2, Julianna Pena vs. Kayla Harrison headline UFC 316

Merab Dvalishvili faces Sean O’Malley in a rematch while Julianna Pena puts her bantamweight title up for grabs against Kayla Harrison in the new main and co-main events just announced for UFC 316 on June 7 from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

UFC CEO Dana White announced the new fights on Tuesday.

Dvalishvili looks for the second defense of his 135-pound title after he vanquished Umar Nurmagomedov back in January in a stunning five-round performance. That fight came just four months after Dvalishvili claimed the bantamweight title with an even more dominant performance over O’Malley at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

The rematch gets booked without O’Malley actually competing again since losing his title to Dvalishvili but he’s getting a second crack at the Georgian fighter when they meet again in June.

As for the co-main event, Pena returns to action following a razor-close decision over Raquel Pennington that crowned her as a two-time UFC bantamweight champion. Overall, Pena has gone 3-1 in her past four fights, which included a statement performance over Amanda Nunes to become champion for the first time back in 2021.

Now she faces a two-time Olympic champion in Harrison in June after the former PFL champion signed with the UFC in free agency and quickly rattled off back-to-back wins over Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira to earn a title shot.

Overall, Harrison is 18-1 as a pro and she’ll attempt to become UFC champion when she faces Pena in June.