UFC 311 Recap: Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili Retain Titles in Los Angeles

Islam Makhachev made short work of his short-notice opponent as he submitted Brazil’s Renato Moicano in the main event of UFC 311 in Inglewood, California.

The state-of-the-art Intuit Dome played host to the first UFC pay-per-view event of 2025, and the undisputed lightweight champion and pound-for-pound number one showed just why he’s the cream of the crop at 155 pounds.

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It was a statement win for Makhachev, who willingly accepted a last-minute change of opponent after his original challenger, Armenia’s Arman Tsarukyan, was ruled out of the fight on weigh-in day. Moicano, who was set to face Beneil Dariush at the event, was offered the chance to step up on one day’s notice.

That confidence in his own abilities shone through in his performance against Moicano, who looked to stand and trade early, but was eventually submitted late in the opening round after Makhachev changed levels and took him to the mat.

Once the action was on the ground, the Russian went looking for a submission, and the opening presented itself when Moicano attempted to get back to his feet. Makhachev saw the Brazilian’s exposed neck, snatched up a D’Arce choke, and applied the pressure to force the quick tap at the 4:05 mark.

It gave Makhachev a record-breaking fourth lightweight title defense, and extended his record to 27-1.

“I was always looking for the finish,” he told Joe Rogan after his victory.

“I told you guys. I’m not just talk. All fight week, all my camp, all media, I talk: ‘If my opponent gives me a small chance, I will close the night.'”

Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision – for bantamweight title

In the night’s co-main event, Merab Dvalishvili put on an incredible show of cardio as he fell behind early, then came storming back to defeat undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision and retain his undisputed bantamweight title.

The opening round started in cagey fashion, but Nurmagomedov soon got into his groove on the feet as he established his southpaw jab and effectively kept the champion at range. Dvalishvili rose to the top of the division on the back of his cardio and ability to take his opponents to the mat, but Nurmagomedov stuffed everything at source to keep things standing in a first round that saw the challenger claim an early moral victory

If the first round established Nurmagomedov’s advantages on the feet, the second proved that the challenger is every bit the champion’s equal in the wrestling stakes. Nurmagomedov continued to keep Dvalishvili at striking range, leading to some fast-paced exchanges as the pair traded combos in the center of the Octagon.

When Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts came, Nurmagomedov shut them down with relative ease. Then, he scored a huge psychological victory by taking Dvalishvili to the canvas – and becoming the first man in the UFC to do so in the Georgian’s last seven fights.

Round 3 saw the first glimpses of Dvalishvili’s key weapon – his cardio – as his relentless pace saw him enjoy a strong round. The champion pushed Nurmagomedov onto the back foot and there were signs that the challenger was starting to struggle with the pace of the champion.

Dvalishvili was starting to enjoy himself in there, too, and even took the time to check in with the commentary trio of Jon Anik, Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan while the action was pushed up against the fence.

The pendulum had swung firmly in Dvalishvili’s favor by Round 4. Now fighting with a broad grin on his face, Dvalishvili turned up the pressure again as he got in Nurmagomedov’s face and never gave the challenger a moment to breathe. Dvalishvili smartly started to mix up his strikes from head to body, which only served to sap Nurmagomedov’s gas tank further.

And, as the round wore on, Dvalishvili landed his fifth takedown of the fight to tie the all-time record held by Canadian legend Georges St-Pierre – a feat Nurmagomedov vowed would not happen against him at UFC 311.

After 20 breathless minutes of action, the pair went into the final round, and Dvalishvili hit the accelerator again. He shut down Nurmagomedov’s early combinations with a succession of takedown attempts that sapped the challenger’s gas tank once more. Then, with the clock running down, he cracked Nurmagomedov with a beautiful two-punch combination, then followed up with a pair of big takedowns to claim the all-time takedown record and, eventually, the fight.

Two judges scored the bout 48-47, while the third scored it 49-46 as Dvalishvili retained his crown with one of the all-time great title fight performances.

Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill via TKO (R3)

In the night’s battle of former light heavyweight champions, a rejuvenated, and improved, Jiri Prochazka produced a thrilling performance to stop Jamahal Hill in the third round of a wild encounter between two of the UFC’s top 205-pound contenders.

Prochazka showcased much-improved head movement as he dueled back and forth with Hill in a hugely entertaining matchup that saw both men enjoy success on the feet before Prochazka eventually made the crucial breakthrough deep into the final round

There wasn’t too much of a feeling-out process as both men looked to establish their striking early, with Hill looking to work behind his southpaw jab, and Prochazka adopting his unorthodox, unique striking style.

With just over two minutes to go, a big shot from Prochazka dropped Hill with a huge straight left, but “Sweet Dreams” managed to scramble back to his feet. The pair then loaded up as they traded big strikes, with the crowd gasping at almost every strike that landed.

Chants of “Let’s go Jiri!” rained down from the stands as the Czech fighter continued to push the pace to leave Hill busted up as they returned to their corners at the end of a wild opening round.

The fast-paced action resumed in Round 2, though there were two pauses for eye pokes to both men, the second of which, on Prochazka, looked particularly bad. Remarkably, he shook off the discomfort relatively quickly and, after checking in with the cageside physician, he was declared ready to resume the fight.

Both men landed big shots as they loaded up in the second half of the round, with Hill working well in his more traditional boxing stance and scoring with a big shot to the body, while Prochazka’s dip and rip approach saw his punches find their mark before the end of the second round.

With the bout hanging in the balance heading into the final round, both men pushed the pace in a bid to secure victory. Prochazka was the first to hit the gas as he launched into a wild multi-punch combination that briefly seemed to have Hill in trouble. But, moments later, it was Hill landing heavy shots as he fired back in kind at his fellow former champion.

Then, with the fight heading into the second half of the final round, Prochazka let fly again. A huge right hand dropped Hill hard, and Prochazka swarmed “Sweet Dreams” looking for the finish. Hill somehow worked his way back to his feet, a volley of strikes from Prochazka sent him back to the canvas once again. This time “BJP” wasn’t going to let him get up again and a salvo of ground strikes forced referee Mike Beltran to step in and wave off the fight with 1:59 left in the fight.

After having his hand raised in victory, Prochazka said he wanted a third fight with light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, then dedicated his victory to Ashly McGarity, the cervical cancer patient who he met in the lead-up to the fight.

Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via TKO (R1)

The battle of heavyweight grapplers ended in a TKO finish as Brazilian contender Jailton Almeida overcame some early adversity to defeat Moldova’s Serghei Spivac in the first round.

Many expected grappling ace Almeida to look for the takedown early, but after a short feeling-out process, it was Spivac who shot in first and took the Brazilian to the mat.

Spivac established himself in top position and settled in Almeida’s guard before landing some heavy ground and pound to give Almeida a taste of his power early. But, just as it looked like Spivac was getting comfortable, Almeida swept him and ended up on top.

Almeida then quickly moved to Spivac’s back and started hunting for a rear-naked choke, only for Spivac to turn the tables again and connect with more ground strikes.

The fight eventually returned to the feet, and Almeida stunned Spivac with a heavy punch, then took him back to the mat. This time Almeida flattened out “The Polar Bear” and, with the Moldovan face-down on the mat and the Brazilian on his back, Almeida unloaded one final salvo of ground strikes to force the finish, just as the 10-second clapper sounded at the end of the first round.

After his victory, Almeida renewed his call for a fight with French heavyweight contender Ciryl Gane – a matchup he’s been chasing for several months.

Reinier De Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission (R1)

Dutch middleweight Reinier De Ridder produced a showcase of his grappling excellence as he dominated Octagon veteran Kevin Holland en route to a first-round submission victory.

Former two-division champ De Ridder wasted no time as he immediately shot for a takedown and sent Holland to the mat. The Dutchman then went to work from inside Holland’s guard, but had to be careful of Holland’s work off his back as he threw up his legs to attempt a triangle choke, and connected with a couple of powerful up kicks.

De Ridder stayed committed to attacking from inside the guard and landed some decent ground and pound before transitioning smoothly to Holland’s back. Holland tried to shake him off, but was unsuccessful and De Ridder established back control with a body triangle, then locked up a rear-naked choke to force the tap and secure a hugely impressive first-round victory.

After his victory, De Ridder called for a “top five guy”. After a performance like that, he might just get his wish.

Preliminary Card Recap

The night’s featured preliminary card bout produced something of a shock, as Brazil’s Raoni Barcelos handed bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott the first defeat of his career.

Barcelos made good on his pre-fight promise that he would relentlessly pursue the takedown as he used his grappling skills to repeatedly take Talbott off his feet and nullify his striking power through the first two rounds.

After being told he needed a finish in the final round, Talbott turned up the pressure and, in a wild final frame, both men traded back and forth on the feet and scrambled on the mat. Eventually, Barcelos found an opening for a takedown and moved into mount as he shut down the offense of the charging Talbott, then spent the remaining seconds of the fight raining down heavy ground and pound.

Having reached the final horn, the result was a formality, with Barcelos earning scores of 30-27, 30-27, 30-26 to claim his 19th career victory.

Also on the preliminary card, LFA middleweight champion Azamat Bekoev stepped in on short notice to make his UFC debut and announced his arrival in style with a vicious ground-and-pound knockout of Zachary Reese.

After the action went to the mat, Bekoev found himself in Reese’s guard. The Russian, who stepped in to replace Sedriques Dumas on the card, then postured up and unloaded some heavy-duty ground and pound to render the Dana White’s Contender Series prospect unconscious and secure a statement win on his UFC debut.

Uzbekistani light heavyweight Bogdan Guskov claimed his third straight finish with a second-round submission of short-notice replacement Billy Elekana.

Guskov was due to face Johnny Walker, but after the Brazilian contender was forced off the card, Elekana stepped in on short notice for his UFC debut. And while Elekana started well and went hunting for an early submission, he had no answer to Guskov’s heavy-handed striking.

But, despite a relentless barrage of strikes from Guskov, it was his grappling skills that claimed the finish as he swapped strikes for submissions by locking up a guillotine choke to secure the win.

And in-form lightweight Grant Dawson added another win to his record with a hard-earned unanimous decision victory over Brazil’s Diego Ferreira.

Dawson outworked Ferreira through all three rounds to earn a shutout victory on the scorecards, with all three judges scoring the bout 30-27 to the 30-year-old, who has now won 14 of his last 16 pro fights.

After his victory, Dawson called for a fight with the man who missed out on competing on tonight’s card, lightweight contender Beneil Dariush, as he called for a bout between the pair at UFC 314 in Miami on April 12.

Early Prelims Recap

The early prelims saw all four fights go to the scorecards as the judges were kept busy during the first portion of the fight card.

The featured early prelim saw Argentina’s Ailin Perez continue her impressive form to defeat Brazilian contender Karol Rosa by unanimous decision and extend her win streak to five, before celebrating her victory with her trademark twerk.

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Tajikistan’s Muin Gafurov produced a minor shock as he outworked highly-touted Japanese prospect Rinya Nakamura in their bantamweight bout. Gafurov dropped Nakamura early and used his counter-striking smartly to earn a unanimous decision and hand Nakamura the first loss of his professional MMA career.

Also at bantamweight, Sweden’s Benardo Sopaj battled Ricky Turcios all the way to the scorecards to seal a unanimous decision win and claim the 12th win of his career.

And in the opening bout of the night, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s flyweight protege Tagir Ulanbekov improved his record to 16 wins, two losses with a unanimous decision victory over the previously unbeaten American Clayton Carpenter.

UFC 311: Makhachev vs. Moicano Official Results

MAIN CARD

• Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano via submission (D’Arce choke) – Round 1, 4:05 – for lightweight title
• Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) – for bantamweight title
• Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:01
• Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via TKO (ground strikes) – Round 1, 4:53
• Reinier De Ridder def. Kevin Holland via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:31

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
• Azamat Bekoev def. Zachary Reese via knockout (ground strikes) – Round 1, 3:04
• Bogdan Guskov def. Billy Elekana submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:33
• Grant Dawson def. Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

EARLY PRELIMS

• Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Muin Gafurov def. Rinya Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Benardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Tagir Ulanbekov def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)