Fans wondered if the date had anything to do with the latest important announcement from the UFC president.
On April 1, it turned out to be a difficult day for Vecht fans to navigate, given the amount of April Fool jokes who wait to mislead victims there.
So much so that when Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson was canceled on this date seven years ago, many initially did not believe the news.
On 2025's April Fool's, Dana White Fans made enthusiastic about the announcement that he would go live to announce some new matchups.
In addition to a fantastic welterweight confrontation between Carlos Prates and Ian Machado Garry, White confirmed the Head and Co-Main event for UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Fans wonder if Merab Dvalishvili vs Sean O'Malley 2 is a joke from April fool
On June 7, the Octagon returns to the Prudential Center, where the invoicing of the Co-Main event to Bantamweight goes champion Julianna Pena, who will take on Kayla Harrison in a long-awaited collision.
The main event also sees a title of 135 pounds on the line when Merab Dvalishvili returns for his second title defense of the year after his victory over Umar Nurmagomedov in January.
Dvalishvili won the title on UFC 306 last September, where he defeated Sean O'Malley in the main event of the special showcase event of the promotion for Riyad season noche UFC Inside Sphere, Sean O'Malley.
The former champion made clear after thinking about the loss he focused on a rematch with the Georgian who has now been officially confirmed as the next step for both men after 'Suga' had taken some free time.
Their first meeting went the full five rounds and despite the fact that Dvalishvili showed his Showmanship during the fight, he only won one round on two of the three score cards.
Because O'Malley has not fighted since his loss on UFC 306, many of the answers to the announcement were not really happy to hear the news that this matchup will be fallen within a few months.
Many answers wondered if this was a joke from April Fool, given that the former champion has been on the sidelines since September.
“Today, April is fools, I need evidence,” wrote a fan with similar feelings expressed during the answers. “It is still April 1 in America. This must be a joke.”
“This was the” big “announcement?”
Why Sean O'Malley gets the Rematch with Merab Dvalishvili
In addition to the simple fact that he is a big name and star for the UFC, there are several other factors in the game in the decision of the promotion to bring Sean O'Malley back to a title fight.
There is an argument that with rumors about O'Malley that sustains significant injuries prior to UFC 306 and the fact that he won the last round on all three cards after he had hurt his opponent in the last moments, 'Suga' deserves the Rematch.
This can easily be surpassed if there was a competition at Bantamweight who had a clearer and more obvious case for a title shot, but that is not necessarily the landscape of the division.
Former champion Petr Yan was also in the title photo after his impressive victory over DeiveSon Figueiredo last November, but the Russian was completely dominated over five rounds by DvalishVili in March of 2023.
The name Van O'Malley certainly has weight, but he may also have the best thing to earn a new chance of Dvalishvili.
Comments