The first UFC PPV of 2025, UFC 311 takes place in the spectacular Intuit Dome in California.
In an unbelievable turn of events Arman Tsarukyan had to pull out of the main event and give up his lightweight title shot after sustaining an injury during his weight cut. Luckily for the UFC and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev there was a new contender waiting in the wings ready to step up. Streaking Brazilian Renato Moicano is that man. Scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush on the main card the fan favourite has got the golden ticket to a title shot. The fortune has favoured Moicano whom is on a hot streak of wins and performances, four consecutive wins and back to back finishes give plenty of momentum to the contender. For Makhachev the late change did not appear to trouble him as Dana White confirmed the Russian’s response was “Brother, I am champion, I fight anybody I don’t care.”
The co-main remains unchanged as the bantamweight belt is on the line for the first time in the Merab Dvalishvili title reign. Dagestan’s own Umar Nurmagomedov will be the first defence for the new Georgian king. The bad blood boils between these two and they’ve been going back and forth ever since the fight was announced. Dvalishvili believes the contender has only go this shot because of his family ties but with a record of 18-0 it is hard to deny the shot at gold is anything but deserved. A suffocating wrestling game has got Dvalishvili to the belt and he won it in the same fashion at UFC 306. For the challenger his fully rounded game with wicked striking to balance the Dagestani grappling provides a huge opportunity to further establish the family name as one of the greatest in the sport.
Ones to Watch
Chaos is promised at 205lbs when Jamahal Hill and Jiří Procházka face off at UFC 311. After only one fight in two years Hill will hope 2025 is more fruitful as he aims to reclaim the light heavyweight strap. The sole fight in that time came at UFC 300 against the almighty Alex Pereira and he suffered a devastating KO defeat. His opponent at UFC 311 has in fact faced the same fate. Procházka is also coming into this fight on the back of a KO defeats to Poatan back at UFC 303 in June. However, Procházka did put on a great display last year at UFC 300 picking up an excellent victory over Aleksandar Rakić. Within a massive record of 30-5-1 the Czech has only seen the scorecards once.
Atop the prelims sits one of the brightest prospects in the sport, Payton Talbott has had a stellar start to his UFC tenure. Three fights in he is perfect with three finishes and two bonuses to his name. He gets the opportunity here on a big PPV to finish the prelims with a bang and guarantee his next fight to be on the main card of a PPV. However, Raoni Barcelos is vastly more experienced and a true test of talent for the young American.
Catch all the live results and highlights from UFC 311 below,
UFC 311 Main Card
Lightweight Championship – Islam Makhachev vs Renato Moicano
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Bantamweight Championship – Merab Dvalishvili vs Umar Nurmagomedov
Result:
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Light Heavyweight – Jamahal Hill vs Jiří Procházka
Result:
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Heavyweight – Jailton Almeida vs Serghei Spivac
Result:
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Middleweight – Kevin Holland vs Reinier de Ridder
Result: Reinier de Ridder defeats Kevin Holland by submission in Round 1
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UFC 311 Prelims
Bantamweight – Payton Talbott vs Raoni Barcelos
Result: Raoni Barcelos defeats Payton Talbott by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Highlights:
Middleweight – Zachary Reese vs Azamat Bekoev
Result: Azamat Bekoev defeats Zachary Reese in round 1 due to TKO
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Light Heavyweight – Bogdan Guskov vs Billy Elekana
Result: Bogdan Guskov defeats Billy Elekana by submission in Round 2
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Lightweight – Grant Dawson vs Diego Ferreira
Result: Grant Dawson defats Diego Ferreira by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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UFC 311 Early Prelims
Women’s Bantamweight – Karol Rosa vs Ailín Pérez
Result: Ailín Pérez defeats Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
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Bantamweight – Rinya Nakamura vs Muin Gafurov
Result: Muin Gafurov defeats Rinya Nakamura by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
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Bantamweight – Ricky Turcios vs Benardo Sopaj
Result: Benardo Sopaj defeats Ricky Turcios by unanimous decision
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Flyweight – Tagir Ulanbekov vs Clayton Carpenter
Result: Tagir Ulanbekov defeats Clayton Carpenter by unanimous decision
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Featured image credits to Embed from UFC
