UFC president Dana White came out with three massive announcements on his Instagram Live, just the way he loves to do it. Two fights for UFC 316 in Prudential Center are scheduled for June 7, and a surprising turn of events for the Fight Night event in Kansas City on April 26.
Besides that, White teased a Meta partnership, which is supposed to change the way rankings are compiled and bring new ways of producing content.
After Jamahal Hill pulled out of his main event fight against the number-seven-ranked Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC on ESPN 66, the matchmakers had to work overtime in search of ways to save the card. They quickly figured that welterweight up-and-comer Carlos Prates, whose fight against Geoff Neal at UFC 314 was canceled due to Neal’s injury, was still in fight shape. The only problem was finding a worthy opponent to the Brazilian monster on a month’s notice.
The number-seven-ranked welterweight in the world, Ian Machado Garry, raised his hand and took the main event spot, proving he is a true company man.
The challenge just got harder for Prates, considering Machado Garry had previously beaten Neal. Additionally, “The Future” provides a more versatile skillset, being able to threaten the former outstanding Muay Thai practitioner Prates with grappling. Prates defended every single takedown attempt in the UFC, which implies he might succeed in keeping it standing with Machado Garry, who just recently started implementing grappling into his game.
On the feet, this fight has the potential to become even more intriguing, considering the clash of Garry’s clean, bouncy kickboxing and Prates’s raw, powerful Muay Thai.
The first of the title bouts White teased for UFC 316 was the rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley for the bantamweight strap. Dvalishvili cleared out the top contenders throughout his title run, now having to go for the second lap. O’Malley sat down since his previous defeat to Dvalishvili, while the champion went on to fight Umar Nurmagomedov in January.
Naturally, the announcement created some controversy amongst the fan base, with many arguing “Suga” doesn’t deserve the immediate title rematch.
“They want Sean to be champ again so bad,” the first comment read.
“Sean white privilege I guess what else would it be,” another user stated.
Stylistically, the clash is unlikely to be much different from their first fight in September 2024, when “The Machine” won via unanimous decision (49–46, 48–47, 48–47). That is, unless O’Malley didn’t get out of a wrestling singlet for the past seven months and has no intention of doing so for the next two.
The women’s Bantamweight title bout is set to co-headline the UFC 316 card. Recently crowned for the second time, Juliana Peña will take on the number-two-ranked Kayla Harrison, who is considered by many to be the best currently in the women’s 135-pound weight class rankings. Peña is a Venezuelan brawler who doesn’t know what it is to back out, whereas Harrison is a former Olympic judoka with an elite 18-1 MMA record.
The winner of this matchup is likely to call out the retired former champion and the G.O.A.T. of this division, Amanda Nuñes. Peña already has a history of calling for the trilogy with “Lioness,” whether it is called for or not. At the same time, the fresh match in Harrison seems to be the most interesting thing in this class for Nuñes’s comeback.
White also shared about UFC’s partnership deal with Meta. According to the president of the promotion, brand new Mata AI rankings will be implemented later this year.
“This means that Meta will use all of their badass apps and technology… to create amazing content and experiences for UFC fans,” White stated. “We’ve already started to work with Meta to create a new fighter-ranking system that will debut later this year, thank God.”
For now, the potential changes that deal may bring are vague, but White’s attitude is sure positive.
White created a few talking points with the announcement of UFC 316 main and co-main events and the welterweight contender’s clash. While there is controversy around the June pay-per-view matchups, it is still a stacked card that has the potential to attract a lot of new eyes to the sport.
When it comes to UFC’s deal with Meta, it is too early to say what the impact of it will be, though one might notice just how jolly White was to finally officially announce the AI ranking system.
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