Islam Makhachev retains the lightweight championship after earning a first-round submission victory against Renato Moicano at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Makhachev has now successfully defended the UFC lightweight title for a fifth time, the most title fight victories in the division’s history.
Makhachev has won 15 consecutive fights in his 17-fight UFC career. The Russian hasn’t lost since October 2015 when he suffered a knockout to Adriano Martins in the first round.
Makhachev has held the title since a submission victory over Charles Oliveira in October 2022. They were scheduled for a rematch in October 2023 but the fight was canceled.
Makhachev was initially scheduled to have a rematch with Arman Tsarukyan but Tsarukyan stepped away on short notice with a reported back injury.
Merab Dvalishvili also retained his bantamweight title with a victory over Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event.
The UFC has previously held just two other events in Inglewood: UFC 232 (Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 2) in 2018 and UFC 199 (Luke Rockhold vs. Michael Bisping 2) in 2016. Both were held at The Forum.
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UFC 311 Main Card Results
Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano (Lightweight): Results, Analysis
First round: Islam Makhachev falls back after strikes from Renato Moicano. It was considered a slip and not a knockdown. Makhachev answers back quickly by taking down Moicano. Makhachev capitalized on the position by applying the D’Arce choke and forcing Moicano to submit.
Makhachev extends his winning streak to 15, tying him for third-best in UFC history.
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (Bantamweight): Results, Analysis
First round: Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov spent more than the first minute and a half sizing each other up before Nurmagomedov landed the first blow. Dvalishvili entered the fight with the longest win streak (10) in Bantamweight Division history. He’s won 11 straight fights.
Second round: Dvalishvili appears to have a cut near his left eye. Dvalishvili attempts to bring down Nurmagomedov, who managed to hold his own and keep the fight standing up.
Third round: Both fighters continue to keep their distance. The fighters’ heads collide at one point with Nurmagomedov’s landing on the back of Dvalishvili’s head during the round, but the fight continues. Dvalishvili begins to showboat throughout the round while Nurmagomedov is attempting to bring him down. Dvalishvili’s corner told him to remain focused between rounds.
Fourth round: Nurmagomedov appears fatigued as Dvalishvili takes control of the fight’s pace. The crowd erupts as Dvalishvili takes down Nurmagomedov. With that takedown, Dvalishvili tied Georges St-Pierre’s record for most takedowns in UFC history (90).
Fifth round: Dvalishvili took down Nurmagomedov again to pass Georges St-Pierre’s record for most takedowns in UFC history with 91. Nurmagomedov had not been taken down in his UFC career prior to tonight’s fight.
Dvalishvili wins by unanimous decision to remain the champion after the fight went the distance.
Dvalishvili told Joe Rogan during the post-fight interview that he’d been dealing with a lower back injury and an infection in his leg during his training camp. Nurmagomedov told Rogan that he may have broke his hand after the first round.
Jiri Prochazka knocks out Jamahal Hill (Light Heavyweight): Results, Analysis
First round: Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill spent the first two minutes of the fight on their feet and exchanging strikes. Hill goes down with two minutes remaining in the round but manages to recover after Prochazka lands a strong left strike to the face. Hill’s nose is bloodied and he had swelling under his left eye.
Second round: Both fighters remained aggressive but the fight is briefly stopped after Hill was poked in the eye. Prochazka was quick to apologize. Hill began to gain momentum but the fight is stopped again after Prochazka is poked in the eye. Medical officials came over to evaluate Prochazka before the fight continues. Prochazka appeared to have his face bloodied.
Third round: Prochazka stuns Hill with a shot in the early minutes of the round but Hill manages to recover well. It’s not long before Prochazka finds another opening, landing a left and right shot to drop Hill again before finishing the fight with a flurry of strikes.
Jailton Almeida puts away Serghei Spivac (Heavyweight): Results, Analysis
First round: Serghei Spivac managed to take down Jailton Almeida and began throwing a series of elbow strikes to the face. Almeida and Spivac exchanged reversals leading into the final minute of the round. Both fighters returned to their feet where Almeida capitalized by stunning Spivac and recording the knockout victory with 10 seconds remaining in the round.
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Reinier de Ridder submits Kevin Holland (Middleweight): Results, Analysis
First Round: Reinier de Ridder immediately begins the fight taking down Kevin Holland and landed an elbow, opening a cut above Holland’s eye. De Ridder made quick work of Holland with a body triangle to win by submission.
UFC 311 Prelim results
Raoni Barcelos handles Payton Talbott
Raoni Barcelos held the advantage throughout the first round, staying on top of Payton Talbott, who entered the fight undefeated. Talbott managed to fend off Barcelos’ submission attempts to survive the round.
Barcelos brought Talbott back down to the ground in the final seconds of the second round despite Talbott’s attempt to keep the fight standing up to throw strikes. Barcelos stuck to the game plan, outwrestling Talbott to win by unanimous decision.
Azamat Bekoev stuns Zachary Reese
Azamat Bekoev produced an impressive showing in his UFC debut. Bekoev worked the ground-and-pound game in the first round to successfully knock out Zachary Reese, who was left sprawled out on the mat after a referee stoppage at 3:04 in the opening period.
Bogdan Guskov rallies to beat Billy Elekana
Billy Elekana, who was making his UFC debut, caught Bogdan Guskov by surprise early in the first round and took control of the fight. He took him to the ground and squeezed him from behind with his legs around his waist for well over 2:10. He delivered a series of strikes to Guskov to draw blood above his left eyebrow.
Guskov managed to escape and found himself on top of Elekana. He delivered some heavy blows and placed Elekana in a chokehold. Elekana was seen tapping out after time expired, allowing the fight to continue into the second round.
The fighters spent the second round on the ground with Guskov delivering a series of strikes and putting a defenseless Elekana in a guillotine choke to win by submission.
Grant Dawson controls Diego Ferreira on ground
Grant Dawson took control of the fight early, trying to overwhelm Diego Ferreira in the first round. The fighters exchanged shots to start the second round before Dawson brought Ferreira back down to the ground. Dawson controlled the fight on the ground for over 2:50 in the first two rounds. The third round proved to be no different as Dawson earned a victory by unanimous decision.
UFC 311 Early Prelim Results
Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa (unanimous decision )
Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura (unanimous decision)
Benardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios (unanimous decision)
Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter (unanimous decision)
UFC 311: Time, TV, streaming and how to watch Makhachev vs. Moicano:
- Date: Saturday, January 18
- Time: Prelims begin at 8 p.m. ET; Main card begins at 10 p.m. ET
- Location: Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California
- TV: N/A
- Stream: ESPN+ PPV
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UFC 311 start time: Prelims and main card
UFC 311 updated fight card
Main card
- Main Event: Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano
- Co-Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
- Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder
Prelims
- Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos
- Zachary Reese vs. Azamat Bekoev
- Bogdan Guskov vs. Billy Elekana
- Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
- Karol Rosa vs. Ailin Perez
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov
- Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj
- Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter
UFC 311 odds
All odds are for moneyline bets (as of Saturday), according to BetMGM.
Main card
- Main Event: Islam Makhachev (-1200) vs. Renato Moicano (-250)
- Co-Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili (+200) vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (-250)
- Jiri Prochazka (+105) vs. Jamahal Hill (-125)
- Jailton Almeida (-550) vs. Serghei Spivac (+400)
- Kevin Holland (+105) vs. Reinier de Ridder (-125)
Prelims
- Payton Talbott (-1200) vs. Raoni Barcelos (+725)
- Zachary Reese (+150) vs. Azamat Bekoev (185)
- Bogdan Guskov (-450) vs. Billy Elekana (+350)
- Grant Dawson (-250) vs. Diego Ferreira (+200)
- Karol Rosa (-250) vs. Ailin Perez (+200)
- Rinya Nakamura (-650) vs. Muin Gafurov (+450)
- Ricky Turcios (+220) vs. Benardo Sopaj (-275)
- Tagir Ulanbekov (-350) vs. Clayton Carpenter (+260)
UFC 308 predictions:
MMA Junkie: Unanimous picks for Makhachev
The MMA junkie agrees, with its 11 staff writers and editors picking Islam Makhachev to get a win on Saturday night after a main card change.
Yahoo Sports: Makhachev to win
Drake Riggs writes, “Makhachev is superior in every aspect of MMA to his new challenger, which is why he’s the best fighter on Earth. He’ll hold that edge over nearly any lightweight he’s up against. Outside of some incredible submission that catches Makhachev in a clumsy scramble, the champion should cruise to a victory on Saturday, implementing his soul-crushing top pressure to pummel and break his new Brazilian challenger.”
CBS Sports: Makhachev to win
Brent Brookhouse writes, “All credit to Moicano on stepping up on extremely short notice to face the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game but I simply don’t know what he is supposed to do to beat Makhachev. Moicano doesn’t present the same threat Tsarukyan did and his lack of meaningful striking power means that his inability to outwrestle Makhachev leaves him with no real path to victory. Makhachev can likely win this fight however he decides unless he lands a miracle shot or Makhachev blows out a knee while ragdolling him around.”
UFC 311 live stream
The prelims will be available for live stream on ESPN+. The pay-per-view main event can be purchased and streamed through ESPN+.
UFC 311 price
UFC PPV events are available to ESPN+ subscribers for $79.99. You can also purchase a package that includes the PPV event as well as a year of ESPN+ for $134.98.
UFC 311 location
The event will be held at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The arena is also the home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano: Tale of the tape
Islam Makhachevvs.Renato Moicano26-1-0Record20-5-1RussiaCountryBrazil5-foot-10Height5-foot-11155 poundsWeight155 pounds70.5 inchesReach72 inches
Gabe Zaldivar contributed to this story.
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