UFC 316: 10 Things You Need To Know About Saturday's PPV
It feels like it's been at least two months since the last UFC PPV. In reality, it's been less than a month. UFC 315 was on May 10.
Perhaps it seems as though it's been such a long time because the cards between then and now have been pretty lackluster.
That's going to change on Saturday as the UFC's epic summer schedule gets underway. Here's the 10 things you should know about UFC 316.
UFC 316 is scheduled for Saturday, June 7, 2025.
The event takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.
A bantamweight title rematch between reigning champion Merab Dvalishvili and former titleholder Sean O'Malley. Dvalishvili dethroned O'Malley in September 2024 at Noche UFC to win the title. Since winning the title, Dvalishvili has successfully defended it once in January against Umar Nurmagomedov.
Julianna Peña defends her women's bantamweight title against Olympic gold medalist and former Professional Fighters League featherweight champion, Kayla Harrison. This fight marks Peña's first title defense during her second championship reign.
Harrison has a chance to become the first woman to hold a PFL and UFC world title.
The female G.O.A.T is poised to make a return to the Octagon. She will likely be in New Jersey to face off with the winner following the co-main event. Look for the winner to face Nunes for the bantamweight title later this year.
The former Bellator bantamweight champ Patchy Mix debuts in the UFC with a 20-1 record and 13 submission wins. Mix is one of the best bantamweights in the world and he makes his promotional debut against a tough contender in Mario Bautista.
Quite honestly, as good as Bautista is, if Mix doesn't win, there will be serious doubt as to whether he'll be a title contender in the UFC. So far, none of the champions who have come over from Bellator have proven to be on that same level in the UFC. Will Mix be the first?
While neither Khaos Williams nor Andreas Gustafsson figure to be championship contenders, both men have proven they are about that fight life.
From a pure fighting style standpoint, you couldn't ask for a better matchup if you want to see two fighters get after it. There's some other compelling matchups along this line (Luque-Holland, Gastelum-Pyfer, Pena-Harrison), but Williams-Gustafsson could easily be the best fight of the night.
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