Justin Gaethje considering retirement after UFC 317. Is Merab Dvalishvili Pound-For-Pound No. 1?
Justin Gaethje considering retirement depending on what plays out after UFC 317. Tom Aspinall is adamant that fight news is coming soon. Is Merab Dvalishvili pound-for-pound No. 1? And more!
Mixed Martial Arts
UFC 316 Main Card Results:
- Kevin Holland def. Vicente Luque via Submission in Rd. 2.
- Mario Bautista def. Patchy Mix via UD.
- Joe Pyfer def. Kelvin Gastelum via UD.
- Kayla Harrison def. Julianna Pena via Submission in Rd. 2.
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Sean O’Malley via Submission in Rd. 3.
Merab Dvalishvili, Kayla Harrison and Kevin Holland all received Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 316, pocketing an extra $50,000.
Kevin Holland says he’d be down to fight Colby Covington and the fight would sell itself. Holland also says he doesn’t want to fight younger fighters.
“Keep me away from those undefeated guys. I want old guys, sorry guys, and easy fights. Those young guys, keep me the f**k away from them.”
Newly crowned UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison faces-off against former champion and all-time great, Amanda Nunes in the octagon after her [Harrison’s] win at UFC 316. Amanda Nunes has made it known she plans to come out of retirement to fight Harrison.
Kayla Harrison says she wants the Amanda Nunes fight as she wants to be the greatest of all time, which she believes Nunes is. Harrison says it’s not personal, there’s no bad blood between the two and this fight will make history.
“We’re going to go in there and make some absolute magic in the women’s division, we’re going to break some records and make some history and we’re both going to make a lot of money doing it. We’re going to bring Women’s MMA to a whole new level.”
Kayla Harrison wraps her championship belt around Donald Trump:
Ivanka Trump in attendance at UFC 316:
Amanda Nunes confirms that she left her old gym in American Top Team due to the arrival of Kayla Harrison.
“Yes I did. Because when she got there, she started training with my coach and I knew this fight would happen one day. If I was there now that would be a problem. She would have to move. Both training at the same gym, never would have happened.”
Amanda Nunes on a fight with Kayla Harrison.
“I like when opponents can bring me fear. This is how I show up, when you threaten me with something. I know Kayla is that kind of fighter. This is what I like to feel, I like to be in danger – this is how ‘The Lioness’ comes out.”
Merab Dvalishvili says that Sean O’Malley felt much better in the rematch compared to their first fight in that he fixed his mistakes with him. Dvalishvili says he doesn’t know the name of the choke he got O’Malley with but he’s been hitting it in the gym – dubs it the ‘Machine Choke’.
Merab Dvalishvili says that Cory Sandhagen is the most deserving guy for next in line for the title shot – says Sandhagen was consistently fighting the best guys and is a company guy. Dvalishvili says he wants to be busy as champion.
Merab Dvalishvili re-creates his old photo with Kayla Harrison:
Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan with a message to Sean O’Malley:
Dana White says he hasn’t been keeping up with the gossip that UFC Heavyweight champion Jon Jones has been talking about online. This is in regards to Jones saying that he’s told Dana his plans and that he’s ready to vacate the title – he doesn’t care if he got stripped of his title, he’d be ready to vacate. White also speaks on Tom Aspinall and how he cannot force Jones to fight. That being said, White says that Jones did agree to fight Tom Aspinall – he was offered the deal and accepted the deal. White reiterates that he guarantees this fight will happen.
“I’ve been busy. I haven’t been keeping up with the gossip. Tuesday we’ll figure this out. Tom Aspinall’s the guy. If the guy wants to retire and doesn’t want to fight, nothing you can do. I didn’t want Khabib to retire.”
Dana White believes that a rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov is very interesting.
“It makes your legacy even better when you run through everybody twice.”
When asked about Francis Ngannou’s chances of returning to the UFC, Dana White responds with:
“Probably not.”
Dana White was asked about the current petition circulating online to strip Jon Jones of the title to which he responds:
“It’s kind of f**king silly.”
Francis Ngannou with a message to Jon Jones – is this Ngannou showing support to Tom Aspinall?
Dana White says that nobody talks in boxing in comparison to MMA; White confirms he’s promoting the fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. When asked whether that bout is taking place in Las Vegas, NV, White says he’ll let us know when it’s time to let us know.
Alex Pereira with Dana White and Donald Trump at UFC 316:
Tom Aspinall is adamant that fight news surrounding him will be announced soon. He also speaks on a potential bout with Francis Ngannou even though Dana White had already shut the door on an Ngannou return.
“I don’t announce no fights, I don’t announce no UFC news or nothing like that. But there is some coming, there’s definitely some coming. Dana White says I’m his man, we love that. And I’m going to go and prove that pretty soon, so it’s coming. I’ve said plenty times the day that I start ducking out of fights and turning opponents down and start turning opponents down and stuff like that is the day that I’m going to retire.”
Tom Aspinall on Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley at UFC 316.
“After Round 2, in all honesty, Sean O’Malley just didn’t seem to really want to be there. Merab’s style just doesn’t work for Sean O’Malley. He outstyled Sean twice.”
On Instagram, Julianna Pena says she’s calling dubs on the winner between the supposed next fight between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes.
It’s announced that UFC 320 will be taking place in Las Vegas, NV on October 4, 2025 and a Fight Night event will take place in Vancouver, BC on October 18, 2025. No bouts have been announced for either card.
Justin Gaethje’s manager says that should Gaethje not get the winner of Ilia Topuria vs Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 on June 28, 2025, he will retire.
“He’s won three of his last four, he saved the UFC two times they needed him. And he’s there. The guy did so much fo the sport. If anyone said he doesn’t deserve it – he said ‘If I’m not going to fight for the title, I’m just going to hang up my gloves.”
Henry Cejudo doesn’t think Merab Dvalishvili beats Cory Sandhagen; says if Merab beats Cory, he’ll put him at pound-for-pound No. 1.
Ilia Topuria says the move up to Lightweight has him feeling extremely powerful.
“I feel so powerful at 155. I’m going to touch [Oliveira’s] chin and it will explode.”
Jon Jones says his toughest opponent is Alexander Gustafsson.
“My best opponent would have to be Alexander Gustafsson. He really pushed me. He was the only guy to take me down in the UFC. He cut me open and made me dig really hard.”
Jon Jones explains why he isn’t a fan of hard sparring during training sessions.
“I think sparrings should be respectful. When you drive home with a headache, it’s a terrible thing. I think it’s one of the main things fighters don’t realize; the more they spar hard – it’s your reaction time that goes away.”
