Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley – UFC 316 LIVE: Georgian sensation chokes out rival before posing for picture with president Donald Trump

From some roughing up on the walkout to cheers in victory, Merab’s classy speech and brimming enthusiasm, combined with that savage finish has won the fans over tonight who were rooting for ‘Suga’.

He was a formidable champion before tonight but now he’s adding new dimensions and finishing credentials to his game – the Georgian looks almost unstoppable right now. Corey Sandhagen will be next, confirmed by the champ in his chaotic post-fight interview.

‘I didn’t think it would go like that, I just wanted to stick around to thank everybody. I have a two week old and four year old at home so I’m excited to spend time with them. Thanks again for coming out.’

What a win! Merab Dvalishvili is a phenomenon. O’Malley was in there with no excuses today and he was easily bested.

In the third, he locks in a choke, or possibly a neck crank – the replays will clear that up, having already taken his challenger down multiple times. Merab goes north-south on the choke and O’Malley just can’t get any air. Sensational.

O’Malley stuffs the takedowns superbly in the second and that’s a major development for him. That said, Dvalishvili connects with two or three right hands in nice combos of his own. He’s been working on his boxing and it really shows.

Stick and move early on from O’Malley and Dvalishvili looked tentative before finding his pace. He began to close off the octagon as usual, suffocating pressure before eventually securing a takedown and landing some nice ground and pound, although O’Malley does well to avoid any really nasty damage. Still, it was the champion’s round.

The New Jersey crowd are hostile to Merab has he walks out, booing and leaning over the railings to get a piece of him. Can he put all of it out of his mind to melt O’Malley like he does everyone else?

O’Malley’s walkout music is pure US of A schmaltz but I reckon he knows his audience and the crowd lap it up.

O’Malley is one of the few fighters in the UFC who could be a genuine superstar but he needs the success in the cage to go with it. The Montana native seems to have done everything he can in preparation so let’s see if he can unlock the kind of striking performance to shake the champion from his perch.

Dvalishvili might have the best gas tank in the UFC – he is ridiculously relentless and a nightmare to face. He says he’s giving Sean O’Malley another chance because of how much he complained after the first one, claiming to have been compromised.

O’Malley quit marajuana, social media, even masturbation in a bid to be completely dialled in to reverse the outcome tonight.

Harrison says: ‘I have a lot to say, thank you for my family, two beautiful children, the fans whether you love or hate me you are the lifeblood of this sport. This is for everyone who has felt hopeless or wanted to quit, this is for all the mums, especially single mums, you’re not being punished, you are being positioned. Me and Julianna prayed for eachother afterwards. Only God could get that last pound off me, you have to go to a bad place for that weight cut.

‘I see you Amanda! Come on up, this is the next fight. This is the greatest of all time, I have belt, she has legacy, let’s put it on the table.’

Harrison utterly dominates for as long as it lasts. She secures a kimura with about eight seconds left and even with so little time on the clock, has to tap to avoid getting her arm broken. AND THE NEW!

Brilliant performance and she made Pena look completely toothless. The next bantamweight queen is on the throne.

Pena is taken down and in exactly the place she didn’t want to be. She then kicks up illegally and it is such a flagrant rule breach that she is deducted a point, a heavy penalty and she’s well behind already. Strong start for Harrison.

Very strange choice from Pena to walk out to a remixed version of the Simon and Garfunkel song, not exactly getting me pumped up and it is now 5am. Come on Julianna, must do better. Let’s hope her performance can right that wrong.

Julianna Pena takes on Kayla Harrison for the women’s bantamweight title. Two-time Olympic judo champ Harrison is huge, powerful and dangerous for Pena. Only Henry Cejudo has become champion of the UFC after winning Olympic gold so it would be rarefied air for her tonight with a victory.

A dominant first round for Pyfer proved vital but those cards are a little surprising to me. Ultimately on damage it could be the right call. ‘Forgive me for my ring rust, Body Bags is back baby’, he says.

This was by far Gastelum’s best round, landing a solid left to start and flowing nicely with his combinations to continue the turning of the tide. Pyfer was always looking for the killer blow and should maybe have strung something together first. It’ll come down to how the judges saw round 2.

Gastelum showed every bit of his experience in that round to reverse the pattern of the first. Far more judicious in his approaches and Pyfer has perhaps slowed after the initial onslaught. Gastelum’s corner think he’s made it 1-1 so it could come down to this one.

Pyfer throws punches like he’s lobbing a 100mph pitch in baseball. He knocks Gastelum, who has never been knocked out, to the mat twice in the first five minutes and is physically way superior. This one could have an ugly end unless he makes some serious adjustments.

How on earth is Gastelum still only 33. It feels as though he’s been around forever but there’s plenty of life left in him. Gastelum has fought everyone in the upper echelons over the last few years and will hope that stands him in good stead against Pyfer, who has sensational power and will want to finish early before he is drained.

Bautista must have pulled off this upset. Another straight right to the jaw umderlined his superiority and it was surprising how off it Mix looked tonight, so immobile for a bantamweight.

‘We need to f***ing fight now’, says Mix’s corner and that just about sums it up. He landed a nice head kick in the second but for the most part, he’s just being outworked and Bautista is so much busier, especially with his work to the body.

What a start from Bautista, who dominates the first, landing to the body with stinging power and looking far quicker than his opponent. He connected on multiple occasions with the jaw. If it carries on like this, Mix won’t see the end of the fight, his head and feet movement is poor to non existant.

Mix is slick everywhere and entering his prime – there’s so much hype around him and fighters themselves speak so highly of him. He could make a real run towards the bantamweight title. Bautista s the man the bookmakers have as an underdog tonight so let’s see what the new signing can do on his first outing.

Holland says he’s staying professional and wants to keep fighting at 170 – then goes on to claim Covington is an easy fights, asking the UFC to book it this summer or autumn.

Give the man his $50k now. Holland puts Luque down and wraps his long arms around the Brazilian’s neck in a d’arce. Luque struggles to wriggle out and then taps, before Holland leaps over the cage, shakes hands with the commentary team and then president Trump.

Chatterbox Kevin Holland is jabbering away in there as usual. Luque’s corner tell him not to let Holland talk him out of fighting, to which the American responds in the cage: ‘I won’t talk you out of fighting.’ He doesn’t and they both have their moments in an entertaining opening. Holland is busier but Luque landed some solid left hooks.

The UFC always stick the first fight on the main card as one they’ve earmarked to raise the roof so it is no surprise whatsoever to see Holland, who fights just about every other week, against game Brazilian Luque. They’ll be throwing caution to the wind and keep this atmosphere fizzing.

Flanked by UFC president Dana White, president Trump makes his entrance to chants of ‘USA’ from the New Jersey crowd, who seem particularly partisan. Trump shakes hands with a few VIP crowd members, lingers on a handshake with Joe Rogan and they exchange a few word before he pumps his fist at the fans, taking his seat for the main card – which starts right now.

Joshua Van showcases why he’s tipped for the top – beating Bruno Silva in the featured pre-lim by stoppage. He’s still only 23 but dropped his opponent multiple times and looks super sharp and precise in the striking exchanges. Remember the name.

The president, fresh from his own scrap (verbal only) with Elon Musk, will be in attendance tonight. It’s not known just yet when he’ll make his big entrance but he’s fit with the UFC like hand in glove and used the promotion as a vehicle of self-promotion for years. There’s always a massive ovation and I’m sure that will be the case again tonight.

O’Malley revealed he had a torn labrum in his hip during the first fight last year before going under the knife shortly afterwards. Perhaps it wasn’t the best decision to accept a fight with Merab on one hip but it could offer some hope for his fans that a fully fit version this evening will do far better.

One of the most underrated fighters in the UFC, says Joe Rogan after Murzakanov draws a rare verbal tap out of Brendson Ribeiro with a bludgeoning display and the Brazilian couldn’t make it out of the first round. Performance of the night so far.

Suga Sean has been known to indulge in all kinds of things, which is one reason why fans warmed to him so quickly, alongside his thrilling fighting style. But he’d quit a number of habits he believes will help him find the extra few performance percentage points to beat Merab tonight.

Former Bellator champ Patchy Mix enters the UFC’s octagon for the first time tonight and plenty are tipping him for a championship run. We’ll see if his skills translate to that kind of level when he makes his debut later against Mario Bautista.

‘Bane’ might have been born in the dark but he thrived under the lights tonight, dominating completely to beat Kalinn Williams with ease at the top of the pre-lims.

Only one finish in the four fights on the early pre-lims tonight in New Jersey… Yoo Joo-sang knocked out Jeka Saragih in their featherweight contest to stay undefeated and move to 9-0.

Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O’Malley

Juliana Pena vs Kayla Harrison

Kelvin Gastelum vs Joe Pyfer

Mario Bautista vs Patchy Mix

Kevin Holland vs Vicente Luque

Bruno Silva vs Joshua Van

Azamat Murzakanov vs Brendson Ribeiro

Sergey Spivak vs Waldo Cortes-Acosta

Kalinn Williams vs Andreass Gustafsson

Good evening/ morning wherever you’re jumping on board from and welcome to our live coverage of UFC 316 – headlined by a fascinating rematch later on.

Will Suga Sean O’Malley be able to win back his old belt against the man who is his polar opposite in almost every way inside and outside the cage?

More on that in a bit. First, we have plenty of pre-lims and then a juicy main card to enjoy so stick a coffee on and get involved.