UFC 316 Roundtable: How interesting is Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2?

UFC 316: Press Conference — Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Sean O’Malley is about to have his shot at redemption.

O’Malley challenges bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 316 this Saturday in Newark, NJ. It’s a rematch of their UFC 306, where Dvalishvili out-worked O’Malley over 25 minutes to claim the title. On top of that, the co-main event for the evening is a highly anticipated women’s bantamweight title fight between Julianna Peña and Kayla Harrison, with a potential Amanda Nunes fight waiting in the wings for the winner.

It’s a big weekend of fights, and so with that in mind, MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee, Mike Heck, and Jed Meshew hopped on to discuss the biggest storylines at play for UFC 316.

1. What is your interest level in Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2?

Heck: Gentlemen, you know me well enough: I call it like I see it, and when this fight was announced, I was at about a 2.5 out of 10. But now that we’re a week away, I’m up to at least an 8, and it could get higher.

I love the storylines heading into this one — most of which my best friend AK is going to point out — but the stakes are actually quite high here. Does a win solidify Dvalishvili as the greatest bantamweight of all time? Some already have him there, so if he loses, does that conversation change?

And for O’Malley, if he loses again, what does this mean? Does O’Malley, as Chael Sonnen suggested, become the Rich Franklin of bantamweight and move up to featherweight? Or does “Sugar” become the Max Holloway of bantamweight, where he knocks off all of the upcoming contenders until there’s no doubt he gets another title shot? I’m fascinated by all of it.

Lee: I’m going 7/10, and that feels generous? That should be, like, the bare minimum for a UFC title fight, right?

Like most, my initial reaction after Dvalishvili and O’Malley’s first meeting was something akin to “Well, I’m glad that happened. Now we don’t need to see that again anytime soon.” So I wasn’t exactly thrilled when O’Malley was allowed to sit on the sidelines and wade back into a rematch. But you know what? Other than seeing Umar Nurmagomedov throw down with Dvalishvili again, there aren’t any challengers I was dying to see Dvalishvili fight next. Cory Sandhagen? Timing didn’t work out. Petr Yan? Seen it. Aiemann Zahabi or Mario Bautista? Please. Patchy Mix? Soon.

So I’ve talked myself into Dvalishvili vs. O’Malley 2, buying fully into every possible excuse one can make to run this one back:

Dvalishvili dominated the first fight, but he didn’t really threaten O’Malley
O’Malley had a significant injury heading into the fight, he couldn’t even practice wrestling
O’Malley isn’t smoking weed anymore

Great stuff. I’m back in. 7/10.

Meshew: I’m gonna be honest: I am shocked y’all went that high. This is one of the very few times I remember in history when a fight was announced and there was open revulsion from the fan base. I’m giving this a 2 out of 10, and that’s generous.

Let’s start with the bad: this is one of the worst title fight bookings in recent memory. Now, I can’t say it’s the worst because the UFC is constantly lowering the bar in this regard (*cough* Yair Rodriguez might get another shot at Alexander Volkanovski over Movsar Evloev *cough*), but it’s pretty egregious. O’Malley had one successful title defense before losing the belt to Merab, and that was the wholly undeserving Chito Vera rematch. Even before winning the belt, the knock on O’Malley was that he didn’t have any great wins in the division. And now, after losing a clear decision to Merab, he just gets to run it right back nine months later? Preposterous.

Of course, then there’s the matter of the fight itself. Be honest, how many of you have gone back and fired that one up again? The number has got to be pretty small because it’s not a fun watch. That was just nine months ago, and while you can always make the case that things will be different, the most likely outcome is a rehash of what already bored us to tears.

And that brings me to my biggest issue with the fight: Merab Dvalishvili. Dvalishvili is unquestionably the best bantamweight on Earth and making a case for being the greatest ever, but I’m done pretending like he’s interesting. He is not. The man is an exceptional fighter who found a way to turn his unique skills into a dominant title run, and I will never take that away from him, but I don’t have any interest in watching him compete, the same way James Harden being a three-point/free throw merchant made me hate basketball. Breaking the game makes you smart and great, but it doesn’t make you entertaining, at least not for me. If I wanted to watch a cardio competition, I’d check out CrossFit, and until Merab actually attempts to hurt an opponent instead of just tiring them out, I will never be excited for one of his title fights.

2. Can Kayla Harrison save the women’s bantamweight division?

Lee: I’m not sure I understand this question; is something wrong with the division?

*chuckle*

OK, even with my glasses as rose-tinted as possible, I can admit that the women’s 135-pound roster might not be the most compelling. Can a Kayla Harrison masterpiece change that? It won’t happen overnight, but having a compelling, dominant champion at the top is always a good thing.

For one, let’s not rule out Julianna Peña giving Harrison a hard fight and earning a potential rematch to continue this feud. Say what you want about “The Venezuelan Vixen,” but she’s as doggedly determined outside of the cage as she is inside of it, and if there’s anyone willing to hang around long enough for the chance to become a three-time UFC champion, it’s her.

Then there’s the Amanda Nunes factor. She’s not coming back for Peña, but an oft-discussed matchup with Harrison, her former training partner? You’ve got yourself a legitimate pay-per-view headliner there.

Add in the possibility of Valentina Shevchenko beating Zhang Weili in a superfight and then moving up for another superfight opportunity with Harrison, and my goodness, we might have some buzz around this division again.

Meshew: No. This division is dead, it just doesn’t know it yet.

You know how in movies a character dies and the other one starts doing CPR and chest compressions, keeping the heart pumping but refusing to accept the truth? That’s women’s bantamweight right now. Sure, Kayla maybe Kayla wins, and then there’s the Nunes fight, and that keeps the heart beating for a little bit, but to what end?

There are no reinforcements coming to women’s bantamweight. The UFC simply hasn’t done the work to develop what was once its marquee women’s weight class (coincidentally, light heavyweight has a similar issue). There are barely any on the roster, they rarely fight, and no new talent has come in. Just look at the UFC rankings.

Chelsea Chandler is ranked, and she’s won one fight at bantamweight in her entire career — a win in Invicta in 2019! Miesha Tate is still hanging around the rankings, for crying out loud! The only new(ish) person who could have even been out there was Macy Chiasson, and she just lost the worst fight of the year to Ketlen Vieira.

I don’t say this to be mean, but with a clear understanding of the situation at hand: if Kayla Harrison wins on Saturday, book her vs. Nunes for the last women’s bantamweight title. Make a big deal out of this being the retirement of the belt, and then sunset the division. Then, in a few years, maybe they can bring it back like they did once upon a time with lightweight.

Heck: Umm… kind of? And I say that because it would be a combined effort for some short-term salvation.

Amanda Nunes is teasing a comeback, and the only way — in my opinion — that happens is if Kayla Harrison wins the belt, and I think that the word “if” applies here.

I’ve seen it all over the place: Pena is about to get mollywhopped by Harrison, and that could certainly happen. Call me crazy, but I’m really looking forward to this fight because I think Pena has a better chance than people think. Harrison hasn’t been in the trenches in an MMA fight all that much, and when she has, she lost to Larissa Pacheco and won a competitive decision against Ketlen Vieira. The longer Harrison allows Pena to stick around, the more the brash champ can close the gap. But if Harrison ends up wiping Pena out quickly, the appetite for Harrison vs. Nunes would be pretty big.

But what would come next? That’s a big question, and a HUGE problem for this division. Women’s 135 is in a rough place right now, mostly because there are just so few of them.

3. What non-title fight should people be paying more attention to?

Meshew: Oh wow, I just looked at the rest of this card and, um, yeesh. Either the UFC thinks a lot of Sean O’Malley’s (and I guess Kayla Harrison’s) ability to bring in eyeballs, or they totally gave up on this one. Usually, a pay-per-view either has 1-2 great fights up top and then mids the rest of the way, or it’s a collection of B+ fights. UFC 316 appears to have split the difference with two mid title fights and a collection of DILLIGAFs. bold strategy, Cotton.

I’m going to pass on talking about Fighter X vs. Mix because that man is dead to me. His name is verboten, which makes it hard to talk about, even though Patchy Mix is a desperately needed breath of fresh air. After that, the on-paper most meaningful fight is Serghei Spivac vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (ranked heavyweights!), but no. Just no.

Joe Pyfer vs. Kelvin Gastelum could be fun — or Pyfer could screw up his weight cut, get sick, and then blame the foul up on anyone other than himself — xenophobia, perhaps. So that’s out. So I guess that leaves Vicente Luque vs. Kevin Holland as the only real choice (but shout out to Joshua Van, who is always fun to watch).

Luque is 33 going on 106, but he’s still a dangerous guy and almost always fun to watch. Holland has done his best to nerf his career by fruitlessly fighting up at middleweight, where he isn’t very good, but this fight is back at 170, where he’s quite capable, so I expect this to be a good scrap. Holland probably wins, but it will be fun while it lasts, and on paper, might be the last fun thing that happens on Saturday night.

Heck: Even though there’s buzz from the hardcore fan base, the more casual audience needs to buy into Mario Bautista vs. Patchy Mix. I could write 1,000 words about how much I love this fight, and how intrigued I am about it, but for those who are unaware of Mix, the man was the final Bellator bantamweight champion and he’s had to — for the most part — sit on the sidelines since PFL absorbed Bellator for, well, reasons. Luckily, PFL did the right thing and let Mix go where he can actually fight and have the chance to prove he’s the best 135-pounder in the world.

I’ll admit, Mix’s most recent performance against Magomed Magomedov gave me a little cause for pause. Perhaps Mix was getting a bit unmotivated in an organization he wanted to part ways with, or maybe Magomedov is way better than people think, but this is perfect matchmaking here. Why? Because we’ll know Mix’s UFC ceiling in 15 minutes or less, in my opinion.

If Mix steamrolls Bautista, especially if he gets a finish, he will come out of the event like a freaking superstar, may even get a title shot next. If he loses to Bautista, he’ll likely be a perennial top-10 guy in the world, but won’t fight for a UFC title. Outside of the two title fights, no one has more at stake than Mix.

Lee: I’m going deep, deep cut here and giving Azamat Murzakanov vs. Brendson Ribeiro some shine.

Admittedly, this is more of a Murzakanov endorsement than a boost for the fight itself, considering Murzakanov is the biggest favorite on the card not named Kayla Harrison, but I’ve been impressed with what he’s shown so far and I doubt he’s far from a title shot in the dire light heavyweight division.

At 36, Murzakanov has no time to waste, and he’ll be out to make a statement in the hopes of improving to 5-0 in the UFC and making a strong case for a title shot. It’s buried on the preliminaries, but Murzakanov vs. Ribeiro could be a showcase fight for a 2026 title challenger.

UFC 316 Roundtable: How interesting is Merab Dvalishvili vs. Sean O’Malley 2?

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