I just landed two title fights defends his lightweight belt against it in a rematch in the main event during puts his bantamweight belt ready for grabs at the co-main event on January 18th at the new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
UFC CEO
While Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan had long been expected for the pay-per-view in January, the bantamweight title fight apparently only came about at the last minute.
Dvalishvili had originally stated that he wanted to return in March, but that schedule did not work for Nurmagomedov as Ramadan began in the same month. This led to more than a few ugly confrontations between them, with Dvalisvhili eventually turning his attention to a possible rematch against her while Nurmagomedov said he was ready to fight anyone the UFC would throw at him.
That changed this week when White revealed details about how the fight came about.
“Merab came into the office late last night and told us he was tired of listening to Umar disrespect him and wanted to start this fight as soon as possible,” White said. “We called Umar, he was sleeping in Dagestan and said, 'Hell yes, anywhere, anytime.'
Dvalishvili enters the fight with 11 straight wins, including his dethroning victory and become bantamweight champion. Nurmagomedov now has a perfect 18-0 record, including six wins in the UFC.
As for the main event, Makhachev takes on Tsarukyan after they met for the first time in a Fight of the Night in 2019. While Makhachev won the first meeting, Tsarukyan made life difficult for him, especially considering he had accepted the duel at short notice.
Now, almost six years later, they meet again, with Makhachev aiming for his fourth consecutive title defense after two wins and his recent win against . Tsarukyan has now won four straight, going 9-1 since losing to Makhachev in his Octagon debut.
Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2 and Dvalishvili vs. Nurmagomedov headline UFC 311, with additional fights expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
