Recap: Dominant Performances and a New Champion Are the Stories of UFC 316

The octagon returned to New Jersey tonight for UFC 316 with two big title fights headlining the card. And while betting favorites mostly performed as we all expected, they still managed to impress in their outings. Plus, the stage has been set for a huge future fight in the women’s bantamweight division.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights of the night and break down the three fights we looked at in our UFC 316 preview.

Prelim Highlights

It’s not often I find my new favorite fighter during the prelims, but Andreas Gustafsson definitely earned himself some fans tonight. Leading up to the fight, he explained to reporters that he does not watch film on his opponents because “vikings didn’t watch film." He then proceeded to step into the octagon for his meeting with Khaos Williams and fought just like a viking. He was constantly in his opponent’s face, bringing a pressure not many could withstand. Gustafsson smashed his way to a dominant decision victory and figures to find himself with a high profile fight his next time out.

Joshua Van and Bruno Silva put on a show in the featured prelim before the main card. Van proved to be one of the best boxers in the sport, with precision punches landing again and again. Silva’s leg kicks leveled the playing field a bit, but Van’s technique, speed and seemingly endless gas tank kept him just a step ahead. He landed a short right hand that dropped Silva in the second, kicking off a wild sequence that saw some big ground strikes, a takedown for Silva and a quick escape for Van. Silva opened the third round with more kicks, seeing that as his advantage. However, once Van started evading those kicks, Silva had to engage with the hands again and Van went right back to putting together combination after combination. Eventually, it became too much for Silva and Van scored a late knockout victory. It was an incredible performance for a fighter who is just 23 years old.

Main Card Highlights

Kevin Holland seems determined to be the most popular fighter in the UFC. In his opening bout against Vicente Luque, he provided plenty of his own commentary throughout the fight. Despite his trash talk though, the fight was very close, as both guys landed some good shots in the first round. In the second though. Luque went low and Holland snapped on a Darce choke and forced a quick tap. It was an impressive win for Holland, who later said he wants to stay in the welterweight division and called out Colby Covington.

There was a lot of hype around UFC newcomer Patchy Mix for his meeting with Mario Bautista and he came in as a big betting favorite. However, right from the start of the fight, fans were left wondering why either of those things were true. Mix was stagnant on the feet and got picked apart by Bautista. He figured to have a significant grappling advantage but for some reason he never made a real effort to employ it. Mix tried to turn on the pressure with his striking in the closing minutes but it was far too little too late and Bautista scored a big decision victory.

Middleweight bout: Joe Pyfer def. Kelvin Gastelum

Joe Pyfer came into this bout a big betting favorite but Kelvin Gastelum proved to be up to the challenge. Pyfer landed some big shots in the first round, dropping Gastelum twice. But the veteran stayed composed and managed to recover both times. In the second, it started to become clear that Pyfer was simply looking to land a big right hand and score the knockout. Meanwhile, Gastelum started to put together combinations and was the much more active fighter. Suddenly, we had a close fight in the third and final round. Both fighters had some moments, Gastelum landing punches and Pyfer scoring the only takedown of the fight. As we reached the final bell, it was unclear who the winner would be, which seemed impossible after the first round. In the end though, it was Pyfer who got the decision win, though perhaps not as impressive a performance as he would have hoped.

My pick: Pyfer via 2nd round knockout

Result: Pyfer via decision

Women’s Bantamweight Championship bout: Kayla Harrison def. Julianna Pena

Despite being the challenger, Kayla Harrison also came into this title fight a huge betting favorite and wasted little time showing us why. About halfway into the first round, she locked up a clinch and took Julianna Pena to the ground. From there, she smothered the champ with relentless pressure until Pena hit her with an illegal kick. The ref took a point away from Pena, which put her very quickly down on the scorecards. In the second, Harrison scored another takedown and once again dominated position. It appeared Pena would survive the round again but in the closing seconds, Harrison locked up a kimura. It took just about a second before Pena was forced to tap out. While the tap seemed fast in the moment, replays showed that Pena’s only alternative may have been to lose her arm. It was a dominant performance, kicking off what figured to be a dominant championship reign.

However, things got very interesting after the fight. During her post-fight interview, Harrison called out Amanda Nunes, the greatest of all time as far as women’s MMA is concerned. Amanda stepped into the octagon and said she would “absolutely" return to fight Harrison for the title. That is going to be one of the UFC’s biggest fights ever.

My pick: Harrison via decision

Result: Harrison via 2nd round submission

Bantamweight Championship bout: Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley

While the crowd was firmly in the corner of the challenger in this main event, the betting odds were firmly on the side of the champion. Merab Dvalishvili was dominant in his first meeting with Sean O’Malley to capture the title and the rematch saw more of the same. The champ immediately brought his signature relentless pressure and landed some good shots and secured a takedown in the first round. O’Malley managed to turn the tide a bit in the second, but it still seemed as though Dvalishvili managed to take the round by just being more active and aggressive. In the third, the champ really turned it on, scoring a huge takedown and controlling position for an extended period. In O’Malley’s attempt to escape, Dvalishvili locked up a choke. The challenger put up a fight and tried to escape but he was eventually forced to tap. It was once again a truly dominant performance from Dvalishvili who somehow continues to get better.

We learned after the fight that Cory Sandhagen will likely be the champ’s next opponent. All due respect to Sandhagen, who is an incredibly talented fighter, he does not figure to have great odds in that fight. Dvalishvili seems destined for a superfight at some point.

My pick: Dvalishvili via decision

Result: Dvalishvili via 3rd round submission

The UFC will return to ESPN+ on Saturday, June 14 for UFC Fight Night: Usman vs. Buckley.