UFC 311 Preview
The UFC is invading the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on Saturday, January 18th for UFC 311. The card will feature two title fights and the main event will be for the lightweight title as champion Islam Makhachev will defend his belt against late replacement #10 Renato Moicano. Makhachev was originally scheduled to defend against #1 Arman Tsarukyan, but Tsarukyan withdrew from the fight due to injury.
The champion did not hesitate to accept the last minute opponent change. “What does this title represent?,” Makhachev said. “It means you are the best in the world and if you are the best in the world, it doesn’t matter who’s going to be standing across from you. What do I say? No? NEVER. Let’s do this!”
Makhachev has won 14 straight fights and is widely considered to be the best pound for pound fighter in the UFC. He has defended the belt three times and with a win on Saturday, he could become the first lightweight champion in UFC history to defend the belt four times.
The champion has key victories in his career over Dustin Poirier, Alexander Volkanovksi (twice), Charles Oliveira, Bobby Green, Dan Hooker, Thiago Moises and Drew Dober. The fight with Tsarukyan was set to be a rematch after Makhachev won the first fight by unanimous decision in 2019.
Moicano has won four straight fights and most recently defeated Benoit Saint Denis by second round TKO in September. The 35-year-old immediately took to social media after getting the opportunity of a lifetime.
“’Money’ Moicano is coming for the belt,” he said.
“Be ready, Islam Makhachev. Tomorrow is ‘Money’ time.
“Man, I’m so happy I got this opportunity. I have been working for this for a long time.
“I knew that could happen, that’s why I was training for five rounds. That’s why I was training with a southpaw.
The new challenger concluded by making a promise. “I’m ready, and tomorrow I’m going to shock the world. Be ready because I am.
“This is ‘Money’ Moicano and tomorrow I will be the champion of the world.
“Let’s f***ing go! Let’s f***ing go! Time to go.”
The co-main event of the evening will be for the bantamweight championship as title holder Merab Dvalishvili will battle #2 Umar Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishili won the belt in his last fight via unanimous decision victory over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 in September. The win was his 11th straight and he continued his streak of looking like the most dominant bantamweight in the UFC.
The champion addressed the rumored bad blood with Nurmagomedov. "That's another thing, it's not true. I don't need to hate nobody you guys know. I was kissing Sean O'Malley. I had so much fun inside the octagon. I was smiling there. I don't need to hate nobody. I don't hate nobody but it was things that Umar disrespect me,” Dvalishili said.
"He call me fake champion which is; I'm not a fake champion... He mentioned my country and then he still continue [to] disrespect me and this is not right... I want to shake hands. I want to give him respect. I want to be good with him again. We have to settle this one now
Dvalishili has been dealing with injuries but addressed it as a non-factor leading into his first title fight. "Once I hear the UFC needs me, I stepped up and Dana [White] said, 'Yes'. I go to the office and I said 'Ok, I will step up. I'm a company man. Let's do it’
Aside from his title win over O’Malley, Dvalishili has key victories over Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, Jose Aldo, Marlon Moraes and John Dodson. With a win Dvalishili will cement his position as the top bantamweight in the UFC, but fans will be clamoring for a rematch with O’Malley.
Nurmagomedov is undefeated and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over former interim title challenger Corey Sandhagen in August. The 29-year-old addressed the rumored bad blood with the champion which he believes Dvalishili manufactured. “Of course, I remember that moment,” Nurmagomedov said. “When he asked to me, I saw him, I smiled at him and go to do an interview. He come to ask me ‘why you disrespect me?’ OK, he has a question why you disrespect me? I want to tell him what are you talking about? Exactly what did I say? You’re too sensitive. Explain to me. He’s talking about ‘why are you disrespecting me? Why are you disrespecting me?’ I’m not his son. He can’t ask me like father and son ‘why do you do this?’ He’s not my father. Of course, I want to tell him because what can you do?
“If you guys can find anything where I said with his name Merab — Merab is a coward, Merab is a bullshit guy or anything else — show me.”
While many pundits believe a win over Sandhagen earned Nurmagomedov a title, he does not believe Dvalishil wanted to fight him. “He’s nervous – of course he’s nervous,” Nurmagomedov said at Wednesday’s UFC 311 media day. “He’s maybe upset with UFC – they pushed him to fight with me. Even before he was champion, he don’t take this fight. He doesn’t want to fight with me and when he became champion I think he tried to fight with others because others would be easier fights for him.
“He can’t tell anything to UFC or Dana (White) to show them. He’s always talking he’s company guy, company guy – but they pushed him to fight with me.”
The Dagestani believes he earned the title shot. “It’s not true that it came too early,” Nurmagomedov said. “I’m fighting for the title like most of the fighters. Some of them fight for the title after one fight, some fight on his debut fight. It’s not make sense to tell this that I fought for the title because of my cousin name Khabib or UFC pushed me. Aljamain Sterling fought for the title after five-fight win streak. Why can’t I fight for the title after six?”
The rest of the main card:
Light heavyweight - #2 Jiri Prochazka vs. #3 Jamahal Hill
Heavyweight - #6 Jailton Almeida vs. #7 Serghei Spivac
Middleweight - Kevin Holland vs. Reiner de Ridder
ESPN+ Prelims:
Bantamweight - Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos
Middleweight - Zach Reese vs. Azamat Bekeov
Light heavyweight - #13 Bogdan Guskov vs. Billy Elena
Lightweight - Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass Early Prelims:
Women’s bantamweight - #9 Karol Rosa vs. #13 Ailin Perez
Bantamweight - Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov
Bantamweight - Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj
Flyweight - #11 Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter
