In the UFC 316 main event, Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defeated Sean O'Malley (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) even more emphatically than he did the first time the two fought, as he retained his title via North-South neck crank. The stoppage came at 4:42 of Round 3.

Israel Adesanya praises Merab Dvalishvili after his dominant UFC 316 win, calling the performance truly impressive.

UFC 316 set the foundation for some of the next title fights we'll see in the future, as Merab Dvalishvili beat Sean O'Malley to retain the men's bantamweight title and Kayla Harrison knocked off Julianna Peña to claim the women's bantamweight championship.

Both fighters put away their opponents by submission, with Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) tapping out Sean O'Malley in their rematch to defend his belt for a second time, while Harrison (19-1 MMA, 3-0 UFC) forced a changing of the guard with a tapout of Julianna Peña in the co-main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.

After a slightly disappointing 2-3 result for our best bets for UFC 314, our 2025 record sits at 14-9. We'll look to continue our roll on Saturday, with our only rule remaining that all bets must be at odds of -250 or better. Let's take a look at this week's picks.

Dvalishvili, despite English not being his first language, has found a way to connect with fans thanks to his friendly demeanor and his humbleness — not to mention the silly social-media videos he frequently produces, a staple of the lead-up to his capture of O’Malley’s UFC gold last September that returned ahead of their rematch.