UFC is kicking off its 2025 pay-per-view schedule with a pair of championship bouts.
UFC CEO Dana White announced Wednesday night that a lightweight title rematch between champion Islam Makhachev and challenger Arman Tsarukyan will headline UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. In the co-main event, Merab Dvalishvili defends his bantamweight belt against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov, White announced.
Makhachev (26-1) is Uncrowned’s No. 1 ranked male pound-for-pound fighter in the world. A longtime friend and training partner of UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev, 33, has won 14 consecutive UFC bouts since 2015. He currently sits in a three-way tie for the most consecutive UFC lightweight title defenses of all time after securing successful defenses over Alexander Volkanovski (x2) and Dustin Poirier. Makhachev previously defeated Tsarukyan via unanimous decision in April 2019.
That bout served as the short-notice UFC debut for Tsarukyan (22-3), who’s been on a tear ever since. The 28-year-old contender has won nine of his 10 Octagon appearances since giving Makhachev a tougher test than expected, defeating the likes of Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush and Damir Ismagulov to earn his position as the rightful No. 1 lightweight contender.
Dvalishvili (18-4) is Uncrowned’s No. 5 ranked male pound-for-pound fighter. Nicknamed “The Machine” for his relentless cardio and pressure wrestling attack, Dvalishvili, 33, has angled for his first title defense to come against anyone but Nurmagomedov, having deemed the Dagestani product to be undeserving. He nonetheless returns to defend his belt after dethroning UFC star Sean O’Malley in September with a dominant performance at UFC 306.
Despite just claiming the title, Dvalishvili already owns the longest win streak in UFC bantamweight division history, having won 10 straight bouts over the likes of Petr Yan, Jose Aldo, Henry Cejudo and more.
Nurmagomedov (18-0), the 28-year-old older brother of Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov and cousin of Khabib Nurmagomedov, has been untouchable thus far in his UFC run. He punctuated his perfect 6-0 promotional record in August with a thorough beatdown of longtime contender Cory Sandhagen to catapult himself into title contention.
Additional announced bouts for UFC 311 include former champs Jiri Prochazka vs. Jamahal Hill, light heavyweight contenders Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov, bantamweight contenders Karol Rosa vs. Ailin Perez, and top bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos.
