The UFC will make its debut in the Intuit Dome with Renato Moicano challenging Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 311 after a late change to the main card.
Makhachev is the defending lightweight champion and enters the event having won his last 14 fights in his 16-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 got the best of Tsarukyan with a unanimous decision victory on April 20, 2019. But he now faces a new opponent on very short notice with Tsarukyan stepping away with a reported back injury.
Moicano will have his work cut out for him but comes in with some momentum, winning his last four fights. In September, he defeated Benoit Saint James at UFC Fight Night with a second-round TKO.
Umar Nurmagomedov will also challenge Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event for the bantamweight title.
Dvalishvili enters the fight on an 11-fight win streak. Nurmagomedov enters the fight as the No. 2 contender in the bantamweight rankings.
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.
USA TODAY Sports has live coverage of today’s action. Follow along for news, updates and highlights.
UFC 311 Main Card Results
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.
Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen named as Ultimate Fighter coaches
UFC legends Chael Sonnen and Daniel Cormier were announced as the next pair of coaches for season 33 of the Ulitmate Fighter. The series will begin on May 27 and air on both ESPN2 and ESPN+.
Reinier de Ridder submits Kevin Holland (Middleweight): Results, Analysis
Round 1: Reinier de Ridder immediately begins the fight taking down Kevin Holland and landed an elbow to land 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
Catch UFC action with an ESPN+ subscription
UFC 311 start time: Prelims and main card
Prelims: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (ESPN+)
Main card: 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT (PPV on ESPN+)
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
Gabe Zaldivar contributed to this story.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.