Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista, Johnny Walker vs. Azamat Murzakanov Set for UFC 316

The UFC 316 lineup continues to grow, as a couple more bouts were made official for the June 7 event.

The Las Vegas-based promotion announced on Tuesday that Marlon Vera vs. Mario Bautista will square off at bantamweight, while Johnny Walker will face Azamat Murzakanov on the upcoming card. UFC 316 takes place at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and is headlined by a bantamweight championship rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley. Vera vs. Bautista was originally scheduled for UFC Des Moines on May 3, but it is unclear why the booking was moved.

Vera has lost three of his last four Octagon appearances. Most recently, he dropped a unanimous verdict against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC on ABC 7 this past August. Prior to that, he fell to Sean O’Malley via unanimous decision in a 135-pound title bout at UFC 299.

Bautista, meanwhile, will take a seven-bout promotional winning streak into the match with Vera. He is coming off a split-decision triumph over former featherweight king Jose Aldo at UFC 307 last October.

Walker was supposed to face Bogdan Guskov at UFC 311 before withdrawing from the event due to injury. The Brazilian is winless in his last three outings dating back to October 2023. Most recently, he suffered a first-round KO loss to Volkan Oezdemir at UFC on ABC 6.

Murzakanov is undefeated in 14 professional outings but was recently suspended for six months due to an anti-doping violation. In his last Octagon appearance, he knocked out Alonzo Menifield in the second stanza at UFC on ABC 7.