By Simon Head
Contributing Sports Writer
The first UFC pay-per-view event of 2025 takes place in Inglewood, California, with two title fights set to top the fight card at the state-of-the-art Intuit Dome on Saturday night.
The undisputed lightweight title is on the line as champion Islam Makhachev faces familiar foe Arman Tsarukyan in a rematch, while bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili will look to defend his title against Umar Nurmagomedov.
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How to Watch UFC 311: Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2
- Date: Saturday, January 19, 2025
- Main Card: 10:00 PM ET / 7:00 PM PT on ESPN+ PPV
- Prelims: 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT on ESPN+ and ESPN 2
- Early Prelims: 6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM ET on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass
Considered by many to be the number-one pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC today, Makhachev will look to extend his reign of dominance over the lightweight division in his fourth defense of the 155-pound crown.
He'll take on Armenia's Tsarukyan, who pushed Makhachev all the way to the scorecards on his UFC debut and has gone 9-1 in the Octagon since. The 280-year-old challenger has leveled up his game considerably since that fight and thinks he's the only fighter in the lightweight division capable of dethroning Makhachev.
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In the night's other title fight, Georgia's Dvalishvili will put his newly won bantamweight title on the line against undefeated Russian challenger Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishvili hasn't lost in more than four and a half years, and heads into UFC 311 on an 11-fight win streak. His most recent performance saw him capture the 135-pound title with a unanimous decision victory over Sean O'Malley at UFC 306.
He'll face Nurmagomedov, who is undefeated in 18 pro fights and earned his shot at championship gold with a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Abu Dhabi last August.
UFC 311: Fight card
Main Card
- Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Arman Tsarukyan – for lightweight title
- Merab Dvalishvili (c) vs. Umar Nurmagomedov – for bantamweight title
- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano – lightweight
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill – light heavyweight
- Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder – middleweight
Preliminary Card
- Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov – light heavyweight
- Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos – bantamweight
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac – heavyweight
- Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas – middleweight
Early Prelims
- Grant Dawson vs. Carlos Diego Ferreira – lightweight
- Karol Rosa vs. Ailin Perez – women's bantamweight
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov – bantamweight
- Ricky Turcios vs. Bernardo Sopaj – bantamweight
- Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter – flyweight
English (US) ·