UFC 316 has concluded, bringing us a new champion and strengthening the case for another fighter`s claim to all-time greatness. On Saturday in Newark, New Jersey, Merab Dvalishvili successfully defended his men`s bantamweight title, defeating Sean O’Malley in their main event rematch via submission. With two title defenses now to his name, Dvalishvili is rapidly ascending the ranks of the division`s historical greats, prompting debate about just how far he has climbed.
Earlier in the evening, Kayla Harrison added another significant achievement to her already legendary combat sports career. She captured the women`s bantamweight title by submitting Julianna Peña in the second round, setting the stage for a highly anticipated superfight against Amanda Nunes.
With plenty of significant events unfolding at this latest pay-per-view, MMA Fighting convened its panel of experts to break down the major talking points from UFC 316.
How good was UFC 316 overall? Did the card deliver?
Martin: Better than most expected. There were certainly reservations about the UFC 316 lineup beforehand, but the fights generally delivered compelling drama. Even though the outcomes of the main and co-main events were largely anticipated, the way they unfolded was still captivating.
Lee: The top two fights featured legitimate top-tier talents delivering impactful performances. Several dark horse contenders made their presence felt, and some bright prospects also made an impression. Overall, it was a tidy and successful night for the UFC, serving as a fine prelude to the more star-studded pay-per-view scheduled for June 28th.
Heck: One of the better cards of the year, broadly speaking. Four out of the five main card bouts offered at least some level of compelling narrative. Kayla Harrison positioned herself for one of the biggest fights the UFC can currently organize, and Merab Dvalishvili simply showcased his relentless dominance.
Meshew: Surprisingly enjoyable! While the main event felt like one of the less deserved title fights in recent history, the outcome itself was entertaining (a rare occurrence for Dvalishvili). The rest of the card was similarly filled with meaningful and memorable performances. A genuinely solid offering from the UFC.
Is Merab Dvalishvili already the bantamweight GOAT?
Meshew: LOL. No, and I`m frankly exhausted by this conversation. Every time a fighter wins a belt and manages just one title defense, suddenly they are declared the new GOAT. Dvalishvili has two title defenses, and one of those came in this rather questionable rematch that wasn`t truly earned. He may well reach that status eventually, but prematurely crowning him is silly and disrespectful to champions who reigned for extended periods. Honestly, Merab might not even have surpassed Aljamain Sterling`s achievements yet.
If Merab manages to defeat Cory Sandhagen, *then* we can at least begin this discussion. If he adds another title defense after that, he likely solidifies his claim. But there`s a vast difference between what *could* happen and what *has* happened. I`m old enough to recall when people were calling Kamaru Usman the welterweight GOAT, a claim you don`t hear anymore because he lost his next fight. And that`s the crucial point: defending a belt is arguably the most difficult feat in the sport. That`s precisely why Dominick Cruz`s accomplishment of five title defenses commands significant respect.
(Also, since everyone is quick to point to his current win streak – which is indeed impressive – I feel compelled to remind you that two of those victories were three-round non-championship fights. His wins over Henry Cejudo and Jose Aldo, while significant, are absolutely not equivalent to title defenses, and claiming they are is utterly absurd.)
So please, for the love of everything, allow a fighter to *prove* their GOAT status through sustained performance and title defenses before rushing to anoint them out of eagerness. If he is genuinely as good as you believe, he will naturally earn that recognition in time.
Martin: Yes, he is the GOAT, and the argument fundamentally boils down to the level of competition he has faced.
It`s never pleasant to elevate one fighter`s legacy by diminishing another`s, but the reality is that Dvalishvili has navigated a significantly tougher path to the championship and through his subsequent title defenses compared to someone like Dominick Cruz. Make no mistake, Cruz absolutely deserves to be mentioned in this conversation, but a key fact is that many of his most significant victories in the WEC era came against natural flyweights.
The two most prominent examples are Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez, who were effectively 125-pound fighters competing as bantamweights because the flyweight division simply didn`t exist at that time. Cruz also holds a win over Ian McCall, another true flyweight. Cruz`s most legitimate high-level bantamweight wins are against Urijah Faber (undoubtedly legitimate) and a highly contentious decision over T.J. Dillashaw.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili has been actively fighting and defeating absolute top-tier contenders and former champions over the past few years. His list includes Jose Aldo, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, Umar Nurmagomedov, and now Sean O’Malley twice. The reality is, Cruz emerged when the bantamweight division was still developing, while Dvalishvili benefits from competing in a remarkably deep division that is arguably the strongest in the sport right now. That difference in era and competition level is why he is the GOAT, and each win he adds only further solidifies this argument for Merab.
Lee: I don`t believe he is just yet, but I honestly don`t have a compelling argument against it anymore either.
For a very long time, the widely accepted answer has been Dominick Cruz, and for entirely valid reasons. In his prime, “The Dominator” was the undisputed king at 135 pounds, and the list of names he defeated is remarkable. People often forget he was the *only* fighter to defeat “Mighty Mouse” Demetrious Johnson between 2012 and 2017! Add in his multiple victories over Urijah Faber and Joseph Benavidez, alongside that debatable decision win against T.J. Dillashaw, and he effectively defeated almost every significant contemporary challenger he faced (yes, there was the loss to Cody Garbrandt, which remains peculiar). Beating your era`s best is truly all you can ask of a great fighter. Therefore, I am comfortable keeping Cruz at the No. 1 spot for the time being.
The emphasis here is heavily on “for the time being,” because the winning streak Dvalishvili is currently on is nothing short of extraordinary, and crucially, he hasn`t suffered the lengthy periods of inactivity due to injuries that significantly impacted Cruz`s career. Before anyone starts yelling at me, I will state definitively now: regardless of who Dvalishvili defeats next (provided it`s not another rematch with O`Malley), I will finally acknowledge him as the bantamweight GOAT and bump him to the top spot.
Heck: I`m not quite prepared to label him the GOAT just yet, but he is definitely in the on-deck circle, poised to step up.
Don`t misunderstand me, Dvalishvili`s current win streak is phenomenal. He has defeated multiple former champions, including beating Sean O`Malley for the title, submitting him in a dominant performance in the rematch, and handing the fighter many viewed as the division`s true boogeyman, Umar Nurmagomedov, his first career loss back in January. To suggest he isn`t fully integrated into the GOAT conversation at this point is, in my opinion, absurd. While I attempted to approach the O`Malley rematch as a standalone event, we cannot ignore that the first fight occurred just nine months prior, and O`Malley did not compete between the two bouts.
The gap between Merab and Cruz in this discussion has certainly narrowed considerably. However, despite the numerous injuries and extended layoffs he endured, Dominick Cruz still holds a foundational significance; he defined the standard of greatness that shaped this division into what it is today. He holds three successful UFC title defenses, which is currently one more than Dvalishvili, and title defenses simply carry significant weight for me in these historical comparisons. That being said, if Dvalishvili delivers a performance against Cory Sandhagen that mirrors what he just did to O`Malley, he will, by proxy, become the bantamweight GOAT.
How excited are you for the potential Kayla Harrison vs. Amanda Nunes fight?
Heck: Incredibly excited, and the intense faceoff between them following Harrison’s title victory instantly elevated it as one of the coolest moments of 2025 so far, particularly in a year where, frankly, the UFC could use more such defining moments.
Despite a general lack of significant buzz in the women`s divisions recently, Harrison`s arrival and performance provided a much-needed jolt of energy. This is a dream fight that has been discussed for years, a matchup many believed could never realistically happen back when it was just fantasy matchmaking. Now that it`s a genuine possibility, it instantly becomes one of the top five biggest fights the UFC could currently book.
Considering the potential build-up, the narrative of Nunes’ comeback, Harrison’s utterly dominant stoppage win to claim the gold, and the broader context of the UFC`s new television deal being a major talking point, the opportunities to market and promote this fight to reach its absolute maximum potential are virtually limitless. This could easily become the first women’s MMA fight to headline an event at Madison Square Garden. It could even serve as a flagship event for a potential UFC debut on the Netflix platform. And if Harrison emerges victorious, the discussions among fans and analysts regarding her place in combat sports history and her career accolades will become incredibly compelling. As someone who genuinely enjoys watching the absolute best competitors face off against each other, as well as appreciating a compelling storyline, this potential fight checks off every single box and then some.
Meshew: Absolutely PUMPED, and to be honest, I wasn`t expecting to feel this way at all.
Leading up to Saturday, I was quite certain that Harrison would comfortably handle Julianna Peña, but I felt pretty indifferent about the prospect of an ensuing Harrison-Nunes matchup. And then they had that faceoff in the cage immediately after Harrison`s win, and suddenly, I am completely invested and all in.
Women`s bantamweight used to be the premier marquee weight class in the sport, and now it feels like it`s on life support. I don`t know if this one fight alone will manage to revitalize the entire division, but it undoubtedly provides a significant boost, and it`s genuinely refreshing and fun to finally feel genuinely excited about a women`s bantamweight title fight once again.
Martin: This is precisely the fight that women`s MMA has been needing, and now the responsibility falls upon the UFC to ensure it happens and lives up to its potential. Ever since I first watched Kayla Harrison physically dominate opponents weighing up to 170 pounds in the Olympics and then declare her intention to do the same in mixed martial arts, I have consistently been at the forefront of those predicting she was destined to be a major force and potentially the future of this sport. Now, Harrison has finally achieved the status of a UFC champion, and the only individual standing in her way of potentially claiming GOAT status in MMA is the fighter widely recognized as the actual GOAT, Amanda Nunes.
Women`s MMA as a whole, and the bantamweight division specifically, has felt somewhat stagnant lately, without a significant amount of material to generate widespread excitement. However, Harrison versus Nunes is exactly the kind of high-profile fight that can genuinely headline a major pay-per-view event, and it`s a matchup that virtually all of us would gladly pay $80 to witness.
Lee: Honestly, I didn’t feel like I absolutely *needed* to see this fight happen, but now that the possibility is real and seemingly imminent, I genuinely cannot wait for it to be officially announced and booked.
Kayla Harrison executed her plan perfectly on Saturday night. After comprehensively dismantling Julianna Peña, she delivered a deeply personal and impactful post-fight interview and then made the callout that everyone anticipated, with Amanda Nunes standing right there to hear it directly. The timing for this potential clash couldn`t be better either; with Harrison appearing to be in her athletic prime and Nunes returning from a brief retirement, the outcome feels genuinely wide open and unpredictable. Has Harrison developed her skills enough to overcome the established GOAT? Will Nunes`s time away from active competition benefit or hinder her performance? We finally get the opportunity to find out the answers to these questions – no more theoretical debates! This is why MMA is so much fun!
Who lost the most at UFC 316?
Lee: I am genuinely thrilled that I get to answer this question first, because I truly don`t see how there could possibly be any other correct answer than Patchy Mix.
Seriously, what in the world *was* that performance?
Was it Octagon jitters getting the best of him? Perhaps an undisclosed injury he was dealing with? Was it simply a bad stylistic matchup against his opponent? Or maybe Mario Bautista is just that damn good (this is the explanation I genuinely *want* to believe)? At this point, who truly knows?
Leading up to his highly anticipated UFC debut, the prevailing sentiment was that Patchy Mix couldn`t possibly stumble in the same manner as his fellow Bellator star Patricio Pitbull did in his own high-profile UFC appearance. Or so we believed. What actually happened was arguably even worse. There was no discernible sign of his typically dynamic and formidable grappling game. In the striking exchanges, he appeared stationary and vulnerable, like a sitting duck. And later in the fight, bafflingly, after managing to land just a couple of punches, he started theatrically throwing his arms up in the air as if daring Bautista to engage further. My friend, you were clearly losing the fight!
The second-biggest losers of the night are unquestionably dorks like myself and others who have been confidently backing and championing Patchy Mix`s potential for years. Just a thoroughly disappointing time all around.
Heck: To begin with, it is absolutely 100 percent Patchy Mix who lost the most at UFC 316, precisely as AK (Lee) has just laid out, and stating any other answer is simply incorrect. I specifically commented leading into this fight that we would definitively discover Patchy Mix’s realistic ceiling within the UFC’s bantamweight division within fifteen minutes or less, and that prediction proved to be entirely accurate. As I’ve mentioned on many of our shows and discussions over the years, I have never been completely convinced of Mix’s claim to being the single best bantamweight fighter in the entire world, and his performance on Saturday emphatically confirmed that assessment. While he is undoubtedly one of the sport’s top 10 to 15 bantamweights, he is highly unlikely to ever win a UFC title. There exists a significant gap between simply being good, being genuinely very good, and achieving the status of being great, and Mix, based on this performance, appears to be firmly in the ‘very good’ category.
I also fully understand and acknowledge that Mix accepted this fight on relatively short notice. However, when you project the level of extreme confidence and swagger that he displayed, and make the kinds of public statements he made throughout the week leading up to the fight, confidently expressing that he was effectively “looking through” Mario Bautista as if he were merely a negligible stepping stone, that potential reasoning or excuse largely evaporates. When a fighter puts pen to paper and signs a contract for a fight, a clear choice is made, and the consequences, whatever they may be, must be accepted and addressed.
Having said all of that, and purely for the sake of offering a different perspective, I will choose Julianna Peña as the fighter who lost the most, even while acknowledging that this answer is factually incorrect compared to Mix. Peña, at least in the immediate future, faces a deeply uncertain trajectory after being thoroughly dominated by Kayla Harrison. The highly anticipated trilogy fight against Amanda Nunes is now off the table, and a rematch against Harrison in the near term is incredibly improbable. Due to the relatively thin nature of the women`s bantamweight division outside the top contenders, Peña now finds herself in a position somewhat akin to Katlyn Cerminara (formerly Chookagian) in the flyweight division, where she will primarily have to focus on fending off rising contenders looking to make a name for themselves rather than actively competing for the championship herself.
The significant positive aspect for Peña is that she is a two-time former UFC champion and, because of that undeniable accomplishment, she is guaranteed to eventually be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. She holds one of the most memorable and shocking upset victories in UFC history. Despite what some might view as an overall inconsistent or strange résumé, absolutely nobody can diminish or take away those secured accomplishments from her legacy.
Meshew: It was almost, very nearly, Merab Dvalishvili, as he narrowly avoided being crushed when a section of the spectator stands unexpectedly collapsed right next to him during his walkout. Fortunately, he was completely unharmed, but for a brief moment, I almost lost my mind contemplating how unbelievably insane that near-disaster would have been. So instead (and because we can`t all unanimously agree that Patchy Mix was the biggest loser), I will single out Tom Aspinall, who must have departed the arena on Saturday night feeling significantly dejected and with his head hanging low.
For a period stretching nearly two years now, Aspinall has been consistently teased with the prospect of a massive fight against Jon Jones, a fight that still remains unbooked and increasingly distant. And on Saturday, even the perpetually optimistic Dana White begrudgingly acknowledged that Jones might genuinely be considering retirement. And if Dana White is admitting that possibility publicly, it suggests that the potential superfight between Jones and Aspinall is completely and irrevocably dead.
Worse still for Aspinall`s immediate high-profile opportunities, rumors circulated last week about the possibility of Francis Ngannou potentially showing interest in a return to the UFC, which could have presented another enormous, legacy-defining fight for him. Alas, Dana White also emphatically shot down that possibility. Consequently, Tom Aspinall is now most likely left with a fight against Ciryl Gane as his next step. Talk about a significant letdown and a frustrating sequence of events.
Martin: While stating that Patchy Mix incurred the most significant loss with his performance on Saturday night is certainly not incorrect given the context, in terms of long-term career impact and momentum, arguably nobody took a bigger hit at UFC 316 than Sean O’Malley.
Once strategically positioned to potentially become the new public face of the company, boasting all the inherent potential to possibly ascend to the level of global stardom previously occupied by Conor McGregor, O’Malley has now suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of the dominant champion Merab Dvalishvili. The bantamweight title currently feels completely out of his reach. Furthermore, many of the non-fighting elements that previously kept a broad audience interested in him outside the sport – his distinctive colorful hair, his brash and attention-grabbing trash talk, his public embrace of cannabis culture, his video gaming persona, etc. – are now seemingly gone or toned down, as he reportedly gave them up in an effort to deliver a more focused and effective performance, only to still be submitted in the third round.
This highlights the inherent danger and strategic risk of booking these kinds of immediate, back-to-back rematches; O’Malley is now effectively living in a state of career limbo, holding two recent losses directly to the reigning champion. Unless he embarks on a truly insane, dominant winning streak through the entire division, he essentially has to patiently wait for Merab Dvalishvili to lose the championship before he can reasonably expect to re-enter the title picture. O’Malley undoubtedly retains some level of drawing power and ‘A-side’ energy, but he absolutely needs to find a compelling and worthy ‘B-side’ opponent for his next fight, or there is a real risk that he could become one of the most significant “what ifs” in the history of the UFC.
Who won the most at UFC 316?
Martin: The definitive answer here is Mario Bautista, and honestly, any other option proposed is simply incorrect.
Virtually no fighter in recent memory became more universally disliked and subjected to online vitriol for doing nothing more than simply winning a fight than Mario Bautista did for what many perceived as the egregious error of defeating the legendary Jose Aldo. People were quick to label the fight controversial, or criticize Bautista’s performance as boring, but the undeniable fact remains that Bautista won the fight fair and square according to the judges. Somehow, this legitimate victory resulted in him being inexplicably branded as public enemy number one overnight within large segments of the MMA fan base.
Fast forward to UFC 316, and all the spotlight and attention were intensely focused on Patchy Mix making his highly anticipated long-awaited debut in the UFC. He was already being widely positioned and discussed as a potential future title challenger to the current champion, Merab Dvalishvili, not least because they were friends and frequently trained together. However, unlike Aljamain Sterling, Mix publicly stated he had no reservations about setting friendship aside for the opportunity to become UFC champion. All of that speculative conversation and potential future trajectory changed dramatically after Mario Bautista systematically and dominantly “beat the brakes off him” for fifteen consecutive minutes.
Aside from a couple of random, isolated strikes from Mix that managed to land and cause some damage, Bautista completely picked Mix apart, busted him up, and bloodied him, while effectively giving the decorated former Bellator champion a rude and emphatic welcome to his new promotional home. Bautista looked absolutely fantastic in that performance. You can continue to harbor resentment about the Jose Aldo fight if you choose, but you must give this man his legitimate due credit for delivering a truly masterful and dominant job on Saturday night.
Lee: Waldo Cortes-Acosta, please come on down, because you are now realistically just one genuinely good victory away from potentially fighting for the UFC heavyweight title.
This entire drawn-out Jon Jones versus Tom Aspinall situation will, inevitably, be resolved by the end of this year, one way or another. At some point, likely sooner rather than later, the heavyweight division is going to require some fresh contenders and new blood inserted into the championship picture. Waldo Cortes-Acosta currently holds the longest active winning streak in the entire heavyweight division (yes, you read that correctly… read it again just to be sure… yup, it’s true). He is highly likely to face a top-10 ranked opponent in his very next fight. And if “Salsa Boy” can confidently and effectively shimmy his way to a victory over someone like Sergei Pavlovich or Ciryl Gane, you had better absolutely believe he will be fighting for a championship belt in his subsequent appearance!
Consider yourselves officially warned.
Heck: I`m going to select Kevin Holland, because not only did he effectively steal the show with his performance, he arguably managed to steal the entire day`s attention before the fights even began.
It all commenced with an incredibly vague and cryptic tweet that he posted, which immediately sent the entire MMA social media community, which often reveals its less sophisticated side in moments like these, into an absolute uproar of speculation and frantic discussion.
Whether it was Holland himself managing his social media account or someone else posting on his behalf, this calculated move was undeniably brilliant. His tweet garnered nearly two million impressions for a mere five words that ultimately meant absolutely nothing in relation to his scheduled fight. So many people immediately jumped to the conclusion that his fight against Vicente Luque was cancelled, and as a result, Holland became the single biggest talking point for hours leading up to the event itself.
And then the bell rang, signifying the start of his fight, where Holland proceeded to deliver a comprehensive beating to Vicente Luque before ultimately securing a submission victory in the second round. Following the win, he proceeded to do *the thing* (his signature post-fight antics and callouts), capping it off with a perfectly executed callout of Colby Covington.
Kevin Holland has, perhaps somewhat quietly, forged one of the most effectively pragmatic and successful ‘prize-fighting’ careers in the modern era of MMA. The man consistently fights frequently, often stepping up on short notice and helping to fill significant gaps in UFC fight cards on multiple occasions, and critically, he has made a considerable amount of money doing so. While many fighters understandably aspire to achieve massive global stardom and compete solely for world championships and the glory that comes with it, Holland seems singularly focused on making large sums of money as frequently as humanly possible, and crucially, he manages to be incredibly entertaining while doing it. Holland`s established nickname, “Trailblazer,” feels absolutely perfect for him, because he is certainly forging a unique and successful path, and honestly, more fighters could probably benefit from following his example.
Meshew: All this recent discussion revolving around questions like “Is Merab Dvalishvili already the bantamweight GOAT?” and “Can Kayla Harrison achieve GOAT status by defeating Amanda Nunes?” is overlooking what was arguably the single biggest and most significant event that transpired on Saturday: the emergence of a truly unparalleled GOAT in a different realm – referee Vitor “Shaolin” Ribeiro!
A multiple-time world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a genuine pioneer of mixed martial arts during the early 2000s, Shaolin Ribeiro has since transitioned into a career as an MMA referee, and on Saturday night, he accomplished something almost unheard of in the sport’s current landscape – he actually deducted a point from Julianna Peña! Even otherwise competent and well-regarded MMA referees consistently appear reluctant to deduct points from fighters unless the offending fouls are being committed so egregiously and frequently that they feel they have absolutely no other recourse (which is, frankly, a foolish approach). But not Shaolin. Julianna Peña landed a pair of illegal upkicks on Kayla Harrison while Harrison was considered a downed opponent, and Referee Ribeiro reacted immediately, stepping in without hesitation and docking Peña a point for the fouls. It was an absolutely awesome display of competent officiating. These are championship-level fighters; they are fully aware of what constitutes illegal behavior and know better than to commit such fouls, and Referee Ribeiro simply did his job perfectly and decisively.
All hail Shaolin Ribeiro, the newly recognized GOAT of MMA referees. Long may he continue to officiate with such decisiveness and adherence to the rules.
