The UFC has finalized its main and co-main events for their upcoming Jan. 18 event, the first pay-per-view card of the new year.
President Dana White announced Wednesday that Islam Makhachev will defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan to headline UFC 311 while Merab Dvalishili will face Umar Nurmagomedov for the bantamweight belt as the co-main event.
Makhachev, the top-ranked pound-for-pound fighter under the banner, claimed the lightweight title at UFC 280 when he beat former titleholder Charles Oliveira by submission. He's successfully defended the belt three times since, twice against Alexander Volkanovski and most recently versus Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. He holds a 26-1 record in professional MMA and 15-1 in the UFC — his one and only loss came in October 2015.
Tsarukyan faced Makhachev once before at his UFC debut in 2019, losing by unanimous decision but winning Fight of the Night honours along the way. The 28-year-old is 22-3 in MMA and 9-2 since entering the UFC.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili earned the bantamweight title on Sept. 14 when he beat Sean O'Malley via unanimous decision at UFC 306. This is the first title-defence opportunity for the 31-year-old, who hasn't lost a bout since 2018.
Nurmagomedov is fighting in the UFC for the first time since August, but holds an undefeated record since making his UFC debut (6-0) in January 2021.
UFC 311 will take place in Los Angeles on Jan. 18 at the newly-opened Inutuit Dome. You can stream the PPV live on Sportsnet+.
14:12
10:08
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.