UFC 311 promises to start the year off with a bang.
The UFC rolls into 2025 with its first pay-per-view, headlined by Pound-for-Pound king Islam Makhachev (26-1), who will defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan (22-3). Additionally, Merab Dvalishvili (18-4) will defend the bantamweight title against the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0).
There is plenty of bad blood in both matchups, and you can catch a glimpse of the rivalries in the newly released trailer below.
Makhachev defeated Tsarukyan in April 2019 when Tsarukyan was making his UFC debut on short notice. Since that meeting, Makhachev has continued his dominant run, featuring three successful defenses of the lightweight title. Meanwhile, Tsarukyan has won nine of his past 10 fights, earning another opportunity to challenge the champion.
The feud between Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov is more recent but equally intense, with Dvalishvili publicly criticizing Nurmagomedov’s claim to a title shot. However, those comments did not discourage the matchmakers, who deemed Nurmagomedov, with his undefeated 6-0 UFC record, worthy of the No. 1 contender status.
See the UFC 311 lineup below.
Main Card
Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill
Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder
Preliminary Card
Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov
Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos
Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas
Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
Karol Rosa vs. Ailin Perez
Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov
Ricky Turcios vs. Bernardo Sopai
Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter
