All the pressure is on Islam Makhachev as the UFC’s pound-for-pound king looks to defend his throne in the UFC’s first pay-per-view card of 2025.
UFC 311: MAKHACHEV VS MOICANO | SUN 20 JAN | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.
While Makhachev was still expected to defeat the lightweight division’s top contender Arman Tsarukyan, the champion is — at least on paper — a much bigger favourite for his new fight against late replacement Renato Moicano.
Tsarukyan, who was on a 9-1 run since a unanimous decision loss to Makhachev in his UFC debut, withdrew after injuring his back earlier in the week, seeing Moicano step in last minute.
Elsewhere, the co-main event pits men’s bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili against the undefeated (18-0) Umar Nurmagomedov.
Dvalishvili is on an 11-fight win streak and will be looking to defend his title for the first time since a unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306.
Meanwhile, there isn’t a title on the line in the light heavyweight division when Jiří Procházka and Jamahal Hill face off in another highly-anticipated bout on Sunday’s card.
But there is an opportunity for one of the former champions to stamp their claim for a title shot in the near future.
ULTIMATE GUIDE: Everything you need to know about UFC 311
Till unloads after brutal KO win | 00:39
START TIME (All times AEDT)
The action gets underway on Sunday morning with the early prelims at 10am, followed by the preliminary card at 12pm and main card at 2pm. You can expect Makhachev and Moicano to make their octagon walks at around 4pm.
HOW TO WATCH
Aussie fight fans can catch all the action for UFC 311 LIVE on Main Event via Kayo.
Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.
FULL FIGHT CARD RESULTS
Main card
Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano
Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill
Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission
Prelims
Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via UD
Azamat Bekoev def. Zachary Reese via TKO
Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana via submission
Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via UD
Early prelims
Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via UD
Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura via UD
Benardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via UD
Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter via UD
LIVE BLOG
Follow along for the latest highlights along with round-by-round updates of the main card from UFC 311!
MAIN CARD WRAP
Reinier de Ridder laid out his plan for Kevin Holland at media day earlier in the week, telling reporters he would pressure the American early, take him down and then choke him out.
Well, that is exactly what happened as the 34-year-old, who submitted Gerald Meerschaert just a few months ago in his UFC debut, made Holland tap with a rear-naked choke.
Joe Rogan said it was as close to a “textbook” performance as you could get from de Ridder, who already boasted 12 submissions in his professional career before Sunday’s fight.
As for Holland, he has now lost four of his last five fights and is on a downward trajectory.
PRELIMINARY CARD WRAP
Contrasting finishes for debutants… and a hype train is taught a lesson
Billy Elekana and Azamat Bekoev were both making their debuts on Sunday and had very different endings to their first taste of UFC action inside the octagon.
Earlier on the preliminary card of the UFC’s first pay-per-view card in 2025, Bogdan Guskov overcame an early scare to cruise in the end to a submission victory over Elekana.
Elekana, who was stepping in for his first UFC fight as a last-minute replacement after Johnny Walker pulled out, looked every bit the part early in Sunday’s bout.
In a stunning early turn of events, Elekana immediately had Guskov under pressure after securing a quick takedown before getting the back and going for the choke.
“This would be a huge Cinderella story for Billy Elekana if he can pull this off,” Joe Rogan said in commentary.
Elekana was able to land some nice shots while in ground control, causing a cut on the bridge of Guskov’s nose.
Guskov never really looked to be in trouble though, even as Elekana recorded 10 significant ground strikes before his more highly-fancied opponent flipped the script late in the first round.
Gustov was able to get back control himself and mixed in some hard shots to the head before going for the choke late in the round and he got the tap, but it came just after the bell.
Somehow Elekana had made it to the second round, but it was short-lived for the debutant who was a sitting duck as Guskov walked him down and landed a series of brutal shots before claiming a submission victory via a guillotine choke.
Elekana barely threw anything in the second round, refusing to stand up and quickly tapping after the choke was initiated in a strange ending to a fight that started with so much promise.
It was a very different story in the next fight as Bekoev arrived in style to secure a first-round knockout victory over Zachary Reese.
Reese was the one who was normally inflicting all the damage early in fights, having recorded four first-minute finishes in nine pro fights, including a 20-second knockout of Julian Marquez in his first UFC win last year.
This time around there were genuine concerns for Reese, who took a while to get back up after being on the wrong end of a brutal ground-and-pound from Bekoev.
“That’s how you make a UFC debut,” Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier said in commentary.
“It doesn’t get much better than that.”
Elsewhere, in the final fight of the preliminary card, the hyped Payton Talbott was taught a lesson in a unanimous decision defeat to veteran Raoni Barcelos.
Talbott entered Sunday’s bout with plenty of confidence, boasting a 3-0 record in the UFC with his latest victory coming in just 19 seconds against Yanis Ghemmouri.
The American came up against a much stiffer challenge at UFC 311 though and was forced to fight for survival right until the bell as Barcelos unleashed a brutal ground-and-pound in the final stages of the third round.
All up though, it was a clinical performance from the veteran who dominated Talbott from start to finish.
The first fight of the prelims saw Grant Dawson outclass Diego Ferreira, taking control of the bout with his superior wrestling on the way to a unanimous decision victory.
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