While Sean O’Malley Seeks Redemption, Mike Tyson Joins Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in Surprising Move

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley is on a redemption arc tonight, as he faces Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey. The pair met previously in the octagon at UFC 306 on September 14, 2024, where Dvalishvili defeated O’Malley via unanimous decision to become the UFC bantamweight champion. With their rematch at hand, Dvalishvili was surprisingly joined by heavyweight legend Mike Tyson. 

Before tonight’s main event fight between the two bantamweights kicked off, ‘The Machine’ Dvalishvili hopped on Instagram to share a picture of himself posing with Tyson. “An honor to be in the same building as @miketyson,” he captioned the post. Since his first fight against O’Malley, Dvalishvili successfully defended his title against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January 2025, also by unanimous decision.

The fight is underway, and it’s yet to be seen whether O’Malley can redeem himself after being dominated by ‘The Machine’ in their last fight. Dvalishvili landed six takedowns, controlled the fight for over 10 minutes, and neutralized O’Malley’s striking. O’Malley, on the other hand, couldn’t find his rhythm against the constant pressure. It also resulted in the end of O’Malley’s reign and halting his seven-fight unbeaten streak.

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