For the third consecutive year, the UFC brought an early June pay-per-view offering to New Jersey. This year's card was filled with some entertaining action and names, in addition to scheduled title bouts on the evening.
The main event of the evening saw Merab Dvalishvili look to defend the UFC bantamweight championship against former champion Sean O'Malley. This was a rematch from their original encounter in the main event of the second Noche UFC event -- UFC 306 -- at The Sphere in September. Dvalishvili won a clear five-round decision to become the new champion and hand O'Malley just the second loss of his professional MMA career.
While this was O'Malley's first fight since losing the title, Dvalishvili retained the title against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 this past January.
The co-main event also saw bantamweight gold at stake, as Julianna Pena defended her championship against Kayla Harrison.
Pena returned to the Octagon and won back the championship in controversial fashion against Raquel Pennington at UFC 307 in October. Pena had also reigned as champion for about seven months after her shocking upset over Amanda Nunes at UFC 269 until losing the title back to her at UFC 277. Harrison is a former two-time PFL women's lightweight champion; since joining the UFC, she has finished Holly Holm and scored a decision over Ketlen Vieira.
Who pulled off all the stops in New Jersey? Who had a night to forget? Let's look back with all the hits and misses of UFC 316!
Hit: Yoo Joo-sang Lands A Picture-Perfect Quick KO For A Picture-Perfect Debut
"The Korean Zombie" would be proud of "Zombie Jr."
The UFC 316 early prelims' biggest highlight definitely came from Yoo Joo-sang, who delivered a solid knockout of Jeka Saraigh in less than 30 seconds.
The finish looked something right out of the Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor UFC 194 ending. Saraigh attempted to charge forward on Joo-sang, firing off a one-two. Not only was Joo-sang able to keep away from the punches, but he also delivered picture perfect quick left hook. That simple shot was hit so accurately and perfectly timed that it was enough to cause Saraigh to faceplant unconscious to the mat.
In his post-fight interview, Joo-sang promised to deliver a championship to "The Korean Zombie" Chan Sung Jung, who fell short of capturing UFC featherweight gold twice. If Joo-sang's future performances echo his work in the short time we saw him here, and he continues to develop, maybe one day down the line that will be a possibility.
Hit: Andreas Gustafsson Puts On Beating In UFC Debut
If you ever read the name Khaos Williams, you know you just might be in for a solid fight. But it wasn't Khaos who was bringing the chaos in this prelim fight -- it was his opponent, Andreas Gustafsson, who put on the show in his UFC debut.
Gustafsson set the tone immediately, charging into the clinch and landing knees, overwhelming Williams with constant pressure right from the get-go. Williams defended some of Gustafsson's shots well, but his volume and pacing was too much.
That set the tone for the rest of the fight. Gustafsson did damage early in the second and scored multiple takedowns during the round, controlling the fight against the cage and landing several knees and elbows, bloodying Williams up.
Gustafsson continued the relentless pressure en route to a solid, dominant, one-sided decision win.
After a strong performance on Dana White's Contender Series last year, and following it up with this showing, I, for one, will be looking forward to watching Gustafsson's next fight in the Octagon.
Hit: Add Another Finish For Azamat Murzakanov
Azamat Murzakanov has developed a reputation of a finisher, and it was the left hook that was his key to success in putting away Brendson Ribiero during the UFC 316 prelims.
Some solid left hooks early on already did damage to Ribiero before another one dropped him. Murzakanov then murked his opposition by raining down ground-and-pound from multiple positions until Ribiero reportedly verbally tapped to strikes.
This improves Murzakanov to 15-0 with 11 finishes and a 5-0 record since joining the UFC from DWCS. This a win streak that also includes knockouts of Tafon Nchukwi, Devin Clark and Alonzo Menifield, as well as a decision over Dustin Jacoby.
Murzakanov has been ranked No. 12 for a little while now, and regardless on if this fight pushes him into the top-10 or not, it's definitely time for him to face some top-10 ranked competition at light heavyweight.
Murzakanov was scheduled to face Volkan Oezdemir a couple of years ago before having to pull out of the fight. Perhaps it's time we see that one go down now. If not, some of the fighters Murzakanov is sandwiched between will all be facing off soon -- with Nikita Krylov scheduled to face Bogdan Guskov in Abu Dhabi this July and Johnny Walker to face Zhang Mingyang in the UFC Shanghai main event in August. Those outcomes could also play roles in determining Murzakanov's next matchup.
Hit: Joshua Van Continues His Surge At Flyweight
Joshua Van has been a name to watch at flyweight since arriving to the UFC a couple of years ago. And it seems he's fitting more and more into his own, and that couldn't have been further on display with his last-minute finish of Bruno Silva in the featured UFC 316 prelim.
Van dropped Silva three times during the fight -- which has never been done before in a flyweight UFC bout. Van kept his distance and was able to use his striking from there to overwhelm Silva over the course of the near-full three rounds. Van dropped Silva one time each over the course of the remaining two rounds. And after nearly finishing the fight with ground-and-pound at the end of the second, he managed to put him away in the third.
Van is now 14-2 in his career and 7-1 in the Octagon, with his sole loss coming against Charles Johnson last year. Van will now be most likely just shy of the top 10 at flyweight, and one of the names in the top 10 -- after some more shaking up potentially happens with 125-pound contests set for the rest of the summer -- should be Van's next opponent.
Hit: Is Kevin Holland A Welterweight Contender For Good?
There were questions about what Kevin Holland we were going to get entering this fight. Were we going to get the one who is laser focused and puts his power on display? Or were we going to get the one who's more focused on talking and doesn't put up as strong of a performance?
Fortunately for fight fans, we got to see Holland at his best, as he opened the UFC 316 pay-per-view bout with a submission of Vicente Luque.
After stopping an early takedown attempt from Luque, Holland wobbled him with an elbow, starting a run where Holland's physical advantages and striking helped to give him an early edge in the fight. Holland then dumped Luque to the ground in the second and managed to submit Luque with a D'Arce choke.
Holland has now won three of five and is now 2-0 with two performance bonuses since dropping back to 170. Holland admitted in his post-fight interview that he hopes to be at welterweight permanently as opposed to jumping between there and 185. With Luque at No. 14 entering this fight, Holland may find himself back in the welterweight rankings -- and we'll see where things from here for the "Trailblazer." Holland asked for Colby Covington next -- and that might be a fight that could do wonders for him.
Miss: Patchy Mix Falls Flat, Fails To Live Up To Debut Hype
Let's state this for the record: Mario Bautista hasn't lost in four years and came into this fight ranked No. 10 at bantamweight. He's has such upward trajectory, and Mix took this fight on about three weeks' notice. Something does need to be said that Bautista has shown he is ready for higher-ranked competition.
That, however, doesn't deter from the fact that Mix looked awful in his Octagon debut.
It's always been stated that Mix was one of the greatest talents in MMA that wasn't signed to the UFC. But you wouldn't know that based on the way he fought at UFC 316.
Mix looked flat. He was flat footed, with Bautista controlling the pacing and direction of the action. Bautista was more of the forward fighter, and Mix didn't seem to get his hands going until it was way too late. Bautista managed to bloody up Mix over the course of three rounds, while Mix had little control, didn't go for any takedowns, and just looked like the pressure got to him.
Maybe this is just me overthinking, but Mix's performance is a bit of a blow to the overall MMA landscape. It allows for the narrative to be pushed that "the UFC is the place to be" and that other organization's top stars and champions can't handle those of the UFC. The sad part is, we've seen much better from Mix to know he is better than this. And while I don't want to take anything way from Bautista's winning ways, the story here is going to be how much of a disappointment Mix was in the Prudential Center this evening -- to the point a near-hometown crowd booed him at the end of the fight.
You only get one UFC debut. Unfortunately, Mix blew it, and blew it big.
Miss: Be Joe Pyfer? Maybe Not On This Night
Sometimes we need to be careful when we talk about a fight being boring. A fighter's ultimate objective is to win at any cost, and that sometimes means using his skillset and tools above putting on a show.
The thing about Joe Pyfer's performance in his win against Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 316 is that things completely fell off the rails after the first round.
Pyfer dropped Gastelum in the fight's opening seconds and dominated, overwhelming the soon-to-be UFC Hall of Famer with a variety of strikes, including another knockdown, via a head kick, that nearly finished the fight.
Then, Pyfer went into cruise control from there. He threw single punches at the expense of working combinations. Gastelum's striking appeared to get stronger as the round went on. Pyfer may have been in control for a time, but Gastelum prevented a takedown attempt of his -- and most agree that Gastelum took the third round.
When Pyfer was awarded his contract on DWCS, Dana White ripped other fighters for not having the killer instinct Pyfer had. Where was that killer instinct tonight? Because, yes, Gastelum is a tough fighter with a tough chin, but Pyfer had several moments early on where he could've finished the fight. Where did the Pyfer from round one go?
For someone who was facing competition to determine if he's ready for upper-level competition again after a loss to Jack Hermansson, I'm not sure this was it.
Hit: Kayla Harrison Wins Gold, Amanda Nunes Is Back, The Dream Fight Is On
When Raquel Pennington defeated Mayra Bueno Silva to become UFC bantamweight champion in January 2024 -- months after Amanda Nunes bowed out of MMA, the conversations felt like women's 135 had hit rock bottom.
After UFC 316, that may feel like a bit of a memory.
Days after Pennington's title win, the UFC signed Kayla Harrison, fresh into a free agency after running out her contract with the PFL, where she was a two-time PFL women's lightweight champion. There were plenty of questions about how she'd handle the cut down to 135, and while she looked rough in the weight cut for this title fight against Julianna Pena, she showed how dominant she could be.
Receiving this title shot off a finish of Holly Holm and dominant decision over Ketlen Vieira, Harrison used her significantly larger frame and strength to overwhelm Pena and take her to the floor more than once. After threatening a couple of submissions, Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in judo, locked up a kimura to score the tapout and UFC women's 135-pound gold.
It would be enough to talk about how Harrison was fulfilled her destiny in this sport and become a champion in multiple promotions, in more than one weight class at that, but then came the return of "The Lioness."
After multiple teases, Nunes confirmed in the Octagon that, despite her impending induction into the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2025, she was coming out of retirement. And the plan is that we will get Harrison vs. Nunes next.
This was a fight fans dreamed of when both were on top in their respective promotions years ago. Now, this fight is about to be reality. And I'm all about it. I don't know about all of you, but I can't wait to see when this fight goes down -- and I hope these two get a pay-per-view main event billing.
Hit: Men's Bantamweight Is Merab Dvalishvili's World
Merab Dvalishvili had plenty of hype around him when he won a UFC contract through Dana White's Lookin' for a Fight years ago. And while he lost his first two UFC bouts, he has done nothing but win since. And at this point, even the UFC CEO admits it's uncertain right now if anyone in the men's 135-pound division can defeat him.
Dvalishvili proved his first victory over Sean O'Malley was no fluke. Not only did he defeat an O'Malley that dropped all distractions and gimmicks, he finished him.
Dvalishvili again showed that his wrestling was too much for "The Suga Show" to handle. And as he hunted for a submission in the third round, O'Malley tried to defend by going onto his back -- only for Dvalishvili to impressively hold onto a choke and score a North-South choke submission victory.
This makes it a dominant decision and finish over O'Malley, as well as a comeback decision win over Umar Nurmagomedov at the start of this year. Dvalishvili is an absolute beast in the cage, and tonight's performance only proves that. Even though it's rare for him to get finishes, tonight has shown it's not out of his capabilities.
Bantamweight is a killer division, and it'll be exciting to see Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen if that truly is next. But at this point, we might be living in Dvalishvili's 135-pound world for quite some time to come.