This article is part of our DraftKings MMA series.
MMA Expert Picks & Predictions: UFC 316 Pay-Per-View Card
Fan-favorite Sean O'Malley looks to get his belt back against the man who originally took it Saturday night at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, as he'll square off with Merab Dvalishvili in a rematch of their September 2025 clash. Also on the card, current women's bantamweight champion Julianna Pena finds herself as a massive underdog against relative newcomer and former Olympian Kayla Harrison.
As a reminder, the following selections are purely picks. If you're looking for betting or fantasy-specific breakdowns of these fights, check out the following articles on RotoWire:
UFC 316 DraftKings Picks
UFC 316 Betting Picks
UFC 316 Fight by Fight Breakdowns
UFC 316 Multi-Site DFS Preview
We also have a MMA DFS Lineup Optimizer to try if you're looking to try out different combinations of fighters or generate multiple lineups, plus UFC 316 odds from every major sportsbook.
| MATCHUP | WEIGHT CLASS | JON | JAKE | CHRIS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (C) Merab Dvalishvili (-325) vs. Sean O'Malley (+260) | Bantamweight | Dvalishvili | Dvalishvili | Dvalishvili |
| (C) Julianna Pena (+455) vs. Kayla Harrison (-625) | Women's | Harrison | Harrison | Harrison |
| Kelvin Gastelum (+300) vs. Joe Pyfer (-380) | Middleweight | Pyfer | Pyfer | Pyfer |
| Mario Bautista (+145) vs. Patchy Mix (-175) | Bantamweight | Mix | Mix | Mix |
| Vicente Luque (+215) vs. Kevin Holland (-265) | Welterweight | Holland | Luque | Luque |
| UFC 316 RECORD | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | |
| 2025 RECORD | 12-11 | 14-9 | 9-14 | |
| 2025 PERCENTAGE | .522 | .609 | .391 | |
| 2024 RECORD | 45-19 | 41-23 | 39-25 | |
| 2024 PERCENTAGE | .703 | .641 | .610 | |
| 2023 RECORD | 42-25 | 44-23 | 35-32 | |
| 2023 PERCENTAGE | .627 | .657 | .522 | |
| 2022 RECORD | 34-27 | 40-21 | 25-26 | |
| 2022 PERCENTAGE | .557 | .656 | .490 | |
| 2021 RECORD | 35-28 | 42-21 | 37-26 | |
| 2021 PERCENTAGE | .556 | .667 | .586 | |
| 2020 RECORD | 36-18 | 34-20 | 28-26 | |
| 2020 PERCENTAGE | .667 | .630 | .519 | |
| 2019 RECORD | 39-19 | 35-23 | 32-26 | |
| 2019 PERCENTAGE | .672 | .603 | .552 | |
| ALL-TIME | 338-209 | 347-200 | 274-219 | |
| ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE | .618 | .634 | .556 |
MATCHUP | WEIGHT | JOE | COLE | DRAKE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (C) Merab Dvalishvili (-325) vs. Sean O'Malley (+260) | Bantamweight | O'Malley | Dvalishvili | Dvalishvili |
| (C) Julianna Pena (+455) vs. Kayla Harrison (-625) | Women's | Harrison | Harrison | Harrison |
| Kelvin Gastelum (+300) vs. Joe Pyfer (-380) | Bantamweight | Pyfer | Pyfer | Pyfer |
| Mario Bautista (+145) vs. Patchy Mix (-175) | Women's | Bautista | Mix | Bautista |
| Vicente Luque (+215) vs. Kevin Holland (-265) | Lightweight | Holland | Holland | Holland |
| UFC 316 RECORD | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | |
| 2025 RECORD | 15-8 | 14-9 | 14-9 | |
| 2025 PERCENTAGE | .652 | .609 | .609 | |
| 2024 RECORD | 40-24 | 40-24 | 43-21 | |
| 2024 PERCENTAGE | .625 | .625 | .672 | |
| 2023 RECORD | 41-26 | 44-23 | 36-31 | |
| 2023 PERCENTAGE | .612 | .657 | .537 | |
| 2022 RECORD | 38-23 | 39-22 | 39-22 | |
| 2022 PERCENTAGE | .623 | .639 | .639 | |
| 2021 RECORD | 38-25 | 43-21 | 17-14 | |
| 2021 PERCENTAGE | .603 | .672 | .548 | |
| 2020 RECORD | 36-18 | N/A | N/A | |
| 2020 PERCENTAGE | .667 | N/A | N/A | |
| 2019 RECORD | 34-24 | N/A | N/A | |
| 2019 PERCENTAGE | .586 | N/A | N/A | |
| ALL-TIME | 279-167 | 177-97 | 149-97 | |
| ALL-TIME PERCENTAGE | .626 | .646 | .606 |
THE PICKERS
Jon Litterine: RotoWire lead MMA beat writer and scribe for our weekly DrafKings preview. Lead analyst on the RotoWire MMA Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @JonLitterine.
Jake Letarski: RotoWire.com Operations Manager, plus MMA and NCAA Hoops Senior Editor. Host on the RotoWire MMA Podcast and guest on the RotoWire Fantasy Football Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @RotoJake.
Chris Olson: Contributor at RotoWire to "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," as well as The MMA Mashup, DFS Baseball, a MMA gambling columnist and fight recaps. Follow him on Twitter at @RealChrisOlson.
Joe "SunTszu": Known more commonly by his Twitter handle @SunTszu, Joe is a Hedge Fund Executive by day and high-volume DFS player by night. He is a 2x "Bracket Challenge" & "Gotham qualifier. You can also find him as one of the original contributors of "Fight IQ, presented by RotoWire," a DFS-centric video breakdown. He is also a co-creator of the "Creating Alpha in DFS" podcast.
Cole Shelton: Cole Shelton is a full-time sports writer focusing on MMA. His work has appeared on BJPenn.com, CBC Sports, Sports Betting Dime and Blue Jays Nation. He currently pens the MMA Best Bets column on RotoWire. Follow him on Twitter at @ColeShelton91.
Drake Burden: Drake is a proven DFS winner with multiple four-figure paydays under his belt. He took an interest to writing MMA during the pandemic and is active in various Discords and other social media communities. Follow him on Twitter at @DBurdz.
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