UFC 311's Official Fight Lineup Unveiled, Featuring Four Current or Previous Titleholders
UFC 311's Official Fight Lineup Unveiled, Featuring Four Current or Previous Titleholders
ESPN has disclosed the arranged fight lineup and sequence for the inaugural UFC pay-per-view event of 2025. UFC 311 is scheduled to occur at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on January 18, Saturday.
The event will culminate with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev defending his title and title as the best pound-for-pound fighter against No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan.
In the co-main event, UFC men’s bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will put his title on the line against Umar Nurmagomedov. It was previously known that these two title fights would cap off the pay-per-view portion of the show in Los Angeles.
Nevertheless, the order of the entire card has now been made public. Assuming no changes in the next three weeks, here's a rundown of the full card, consisting of early prelims, prelims, and main card, complete with start times for each section.
UFC 311 Main Card - ESPN+ PPV (10 PM ET)
- (c) Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan - UFC Lightweight Championship
- (c) Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov - UFC Men’s Bantamweight Championship
- Jiří Procházka vs. Jamahal Hill - Light Heavyweight
- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano - Lightweight
- Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder - Middleweight
UFC 311 Prelims - ESPNEWS/Disney+/ESPN+ (8 PM ET)
- Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov - Light Heavyweight
- Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos - Bantamweight
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac - Heavyweight
- Zach Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas - Middleweight
UFC 311 Early Prelims - ESPNEWS/Disney+/ESPN+ (6 PM ET)
- Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira - Lightweight
- Karol Rosa vs. Ailín Pérez - Bantamweight
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov - Bantamweight
- Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj - Bantamweight
- Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter - Flyweight
The forthcoming skirmish between Makhachev and Tsarukyan is a rematch of their encounter in April 2019. Their bout netted Fight of the Night, with Makhachev emerging victorious via unanimous decision. The decision represented Makhachev's fifth consecutive victory.
He is still undeterred, having extended his winning streak to 14 matches going into the bout with Tsarukyan. This will mark Makhachev's fourth title defense against Tsarukyan.
Similarly, Tsarukyan has been hard to defeat since his loss to Makhachev in 2019.
Following the April 2019 encounter, Tsarukyan rebounded with five straight victories before falling to Mateusz Gamrot by unanimous decision in June 2022.
Tsarukyan recovered from the setback and is currently enjoying a four-match winning streak heading into his first bid to claim a UFC championship. Unlike Makhachev, Dvalishvili is still in the early stages of his reign as champion. Dvalishvili has notched 11 victories in a row, having earned the bantamweight title in September at The Sphere in Las Vegas with a unanimous decision victory over Sean O’Malley.
A bitter feud has developed between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov, and there promises to be some bad blood in the co-main event. Nurmagomedov is being granted a title shot as the No. 2 contender behind O’Malley, having defeated Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision in August. He's been relentlessly pursuing a title shot since his triumph and will finally get his chance in January.
- If you're planning to watch UFC 311, make sure to mark your calendars as it starts at 10 PM ET on January 18, 2025, at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
- UFC 311 card includes a rematch between UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and No. 1 contender Arman Tsarukyan, which was originally scheduled for April 2019.
- Fans of the UFC men’s bantamweight division can look forward to Merab Dvalishvili's next fight against Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event of UFC 311.
- For those wondering about Islam Makhachev's next fight after UFC 311, there hasn't been any official announcement yet, but fans are eagerly awaiting updates on his title defenses hereafter.