The combat sports world continues to heat up, especially in the New York City area. A stacked UFC 316 card on Saturday, June 7 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey will see reigning UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili defending his title against Sean O’Malley, the man he defeated for the title back in September in a decisive 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47.
Dvalishvili (19-4, fighting out of Long Island, N.Y. by way of Tbilisi, Georgia) is currently on an 11-fight winning streak, the longest in UFC bantamweight history, but must be cautious of the powerful striking of O’Malley (18-2), which he did superbly to win the title last September at UFC 306 in Las Vegas.
The co-main event will see UFC women’s bantamweight champion Julianna Pena defend her title against the second-ranked Kayla Harrison. UFC 316 will mark the 11th UFC event at the arena nicknamed The Rock.
The following Saturday, June 14, at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, boxing will take center stage as undefeated IBF world junior welterweight champion and Brooklyn native, Richardson Hitchins (19-0, 7 KOs), will face former champion George Kambosos Jr. (22-3-0, 10 KOs). Kambosos Jr is looking to replicate arguably the best fight of his boxing career, when he handed another Brooklyn native, Teofimo Lopez Jr, the first loss of his professional career in November 2021. “I think he’s a battle-tested guy, a guy that’s been in big fights already,” said the 27-year-old Hitchens of Kambosos, 31, “so, this is nothing new to him… “But, when you’re facing a generational talent like me, I just think that my skills, my dominance, and just me as a fighter will be enough to dominate the fight.”
International boxing star and undisputed super lightweight champion Katie Taylor (24-1, 6 KOs) will clash for the third time against Brooklyn’s unified featherweight world champion Amanda Serrano (47-3-1, 31 KOs) on Friday, July 11 at Madison Square Garden in an all-women’s fight card to be broadcast worldwide on Netflix.
Taylor, 38, from Ireland, beat the 36-year-old Puerto Rico born and New York City raised Serrano for a second time last November by a 10-round unanimous decision as the co-main event of Mike Tyson versus Jake Paul match. She bested Serrano in their first fight by a 10-round split decision in April 2022. It was a historic night as they became the first female boxers to headline the Garden. Both outcomes sparked controversy as the scoring was widely debated. The AmNews scored the first fight draw and gave Serrano a 95-94 win in the rematch.
“Clearly, I think the world, the millions of people who were watching on Netflix, felt like I won this fight,” said Serrano last month at MSG, where she and Taylor were promoting the highly anticipated bout. “Nonetheless, Katie Taylor is a great champion, and I can’t wait to share the ring with her. Once again, the third time’s a charm for us here in New York.”