The first UFC pay-per-view event of the year will be headlined by ESPN’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, as Islam Makhachev puts the UFC lightweight title on the line in a rematch against Renato Moicano at UFC 311 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Makhachev has been nearly perfect in the Octagon, winning 15 of his 16 UFC fights. His lone loss was against Adriano Martins at UFC 192 in October 2015. Most recently, Makhachev beat Dustin Poirier by fifth-round submission to retain the belt at UFC 302 last June.
Moicano took the fight on late notice, after Arman Tsarukyan withdrew due to injury.
In the co-main event Umar Nurmagomedov, Makhachev’s training partner, challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the men’s bantamweight title.
Also on the card, former light heavyweight champions Jiří Procházka and Jamahal Hill faceoff in what could be No. 1 contender fight and Kevin Holland squares off with former One Championship title holder Reinier de Ridder.
Brett Okamoto, Andreas Hale, Jeff Wagenheim, and Dre Waters highlight everything happening in and around the UFC pay-per-view event.