Makhachev Vs. Tsarukyan Announced For UFC 311

December 5, 2024

1 month

Makhachev Vs. Tsarukyan Announced For UFC 311

Islam Makhachev will defend his UFC Lightweight Belt against Arman Tsarukyan on January 18 at UFC 311.

The card will take place from the Intuit Dome, Los Angeles. Islam is the big favorite in this fight, having already beaten Arman. They squared off in 2019 as Islam won a unanimous decision at a UFC Russia event. Since then, Makhachev has only become better. He arrives into the fight with a win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. He submitted Dustin in the last round to set up the Arman fight. The fight has been long in the making.

Makhachev Vs. Tsarukyan

Reports indicated it would take place in October. But that all changed with the news of Islam’s injury. But with a date now set, Arman has the chance to avenge that loss. Arman is also in good form. He has won 9 from his last 10. He overcame Charles Oliveira in his last fight. A win sets up a lucrative rematch at the very least. Alternatively, he could pursue a title in another weight class by moving up.

In the co-main event, Merab Dvalishvili makes the first defense of his UFC Bantamweight Title when he faces Umar Nurmagomedov. Dvalishvili became the champion in his last fight when he beat Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. It was a big occasion since it was the first-ever combat sports event at The Sphere, which set a UFC live gate record of $22 million. Dvalishvili was talking up a fight with Petr Yan after the latter called him out after his victory against Deiveson Figueiredo.

“Hey guys, before my fight, Merab said that Deiveson Figueiredo was the number one contender who deserved the title fight – I want to say to Merab, what do you say now?! “When I’ve beaten the number one contender in my division, I want to do a rematch with Merab – let’s get him,” Yan said

But Nurmagomedov is the main threat in the divison. He is undefeated with a 6-0 record. He secured a win over Cory Sandhagen in his previous fight to set up this bout. And with his cousin Khabib in his corner, he will fancy his chances against anyone in the divison.

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“Merab came into the office late last night, told us he is tired of listening to Umar disrespect him, and wanted to make this fight happen as soon as possible. We called Umar, he was sleeping in Dagestan and he said ‘hell yes, anywhere, anytime,” White said

“You can’t say it’s going to be an easy fight. I try to think it’s going to be easy for me, and I don’t want to think it’s going to be a decision. I want to finish him,” Tsarukyan