Talk about making a strong first impression by putting your best foot forward. The UFC is opening its 2025 pay-per-view schedule with a two-title-fight card headlined by its best fighter.
Islam Makhachev, No. 1 in the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings, defends his lightweight championship in a rematch with Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC 311 on Saturday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV). Makhachev (26-1) has won 14 fights in a row and is the longest-reigning current champion in the UFC, after winning the belt in 2022 and making three defenses since then. Tsarukyan (22-3) has won his last four and is 9-1 since a unanimous decision loss to Makhachev in his UFC debut in 2019.
The other championship bout at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, has a rare twist: Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili (18-4) puts his belt on the line against Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0) as a +230 underdog per ESPN BET, despite being on an 11-fight winning streak. How uncommon are those odds? Not unprecedented, but close. Only one previous UFC champ — strawweight Carla Esparza (+280), defending against Zhang Weili in 2022 — has been a +250 or longer underdog in the 18 years that ESPN Research has been tracking odds. (That does not count title defenses against interim champs or rematches of upset dethroning.)
Beyond the two title fights, UFC 311 also features a clash of former champions, as Jiří Procházka (30-5-1) and Jamahal Hill (12-2) jostle for position among light heavyweight contenders. Both are angling for a return to the top of the mountain, but there’s room for just one. Who’ll it be?
Those three fights stand above all others on this weekend’s card. But how does the fight lineup as a whole stack up? Here’s a rundown.
Good things happen in threes
Lightweight championship: Islam Makhachev (c) vs. Arman Tsarukyan 2
Even with his place at the top of the rankings and his stardom-by-association Khabib Nurmagomedov connection, Makhachev doesn’t have quite the aura of the man right below him in the pound-for-pound hierarchy, Alex Pereira.
The light heavyweight champ has boosted his profile in a big way by putting on show after eye-opening show in rapid succession. Makhachev, by contrast, fought only once last year and twice in 2023. He makes an impression every time, though, so it’s always a treat when fans get to see the best fighter in the game go to work.
This bout will assign a different kind of work than usual because each fighter has 15 minutes’ worth of knowledge about the guy standing across the cage. The only other time Makhachev fought a rematch, he showed off what he had learned about Alexander Volkanovski the first time, knocking him out in three minutes. Will the champ make the most of this second chance as well?
Title bout by the numbers
13: Consecutive lightweight wins for Makhachev, the longest streak in division history. His overall win streak of 14 — including a catchweight bout — puts him third in UFC history, behind Anderson Silva (16) and Kamaru Usman (15).
60.3: Significant strike accuracy percentage of Makhachev, the best ever among UFC lightweights.
1: Takedown by Tsarukyan in his first meeting with Makhachev (on 12 attempts), making him one of just two fighters to take down Makhachev in his 16 UFC fights.
Men’s bantamweight championship: Merab Dvalishvili (c) vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
Nurmagomedov has fought six times in the UFC and has never been taken down. Only two of his opponents have even tried, however, and they were a combined 0 for 3. So let’s just say his takedown defense is largely untested — outside of a training gym full of elite Dagestani wrestlers. Nurmagomedov’s training camp preparation will be put to the test by Dvalishvili, who has takedowns in all but one of his 13 trips inside the Octagon and has hit double figures four times. One of those fights was in 2023 against former champ Petr Yan, who surrendered 11 takedowns — on 49 tries! Yes, “The Machine” is relentless.
However, if a fighter is piling up double-figure takedowns in three- or even five-round bouts, that means his opponents manage to climb back to their feet a lot. No doubt Nurmagomedov has been smothered daily in camp by his top-heavy teammates, all so he can work his way back to standing in this fight and put his pinpoint-accurate striking to good use.
Title bout by the numbers
1,950: Strikes landed in the UFC by Dvalishvili, the most in bantamweight history.
72: Takedowns for Dvalishvili in UFC bantamweight fights, most ever in the division. His overall UFC total of 85, which includes one catchweight fight, puts him five behind all-time leader Georges St-Pierre.
63.1: Significant striking accuracy percentage for Nurmagomedov, the best ever among UFC 135-pounders.
Light heavyweight: Jiří Procházka vs. Jamahal Hill
When Hill last fought in April, Alex Pereira knocked him out. When Procházka last fought in June, Pereira also knocked him out — for the second time in less than a year. Both of these former champions have set their sights on another date with the current champ, and they’ve talked about that more than they’ve dwelled on this fight with each other. But the road to Pereira leads through this stepping stone, so there’s no use getting ahead of oneself.
Both men are proven finishers, but Procházka knows no other way than hunt-’em-down abandon, with 26 knockouts and three submissions among his 30 wins. His recklessness did not serve him well in his losses to Pereira, but it could draw the hubris-laden Hill out of his typically disciplined approach and into an ill-advised brawl. It should be fun finding out.
Digging a little deeper for gems
Middleweight: Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder
Holland is always entertaining — unless you’re locked in the Octagon with him and he’s talking, talking, talking. De Ridder, competing in the UFC for just the second time, surely never saw (or heard) anyone such as Holland during his five years with One Championship, where he once held the titles at light heavyweight and middleweight simultaneously. Focus, Reinier, focus.
Men’s bantamweight: Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos
The 26-year-old Talbott is a hot prospect, 3-0 in the UFC and 9-0 overall, with seven knockouts. He earned his roster spot in 2023 in his only fight to go the distance, setting a “Dana White’s Contender Series” bantamweight record by landing 145 significant strikes against Reyes Cortez Jr. Barcelos has lost four of his last six fights, but is there a better turnaround opportunity than a date in the cage with a golden boy?
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
This bout also could be subtitled “Hot vs. Not.” Moicano went 3-0 in 2024, with TKOs in his most recent two fights — and knockout performances on the mic afterward. Dariush, meanwhile, sat out all of last year while recovering from a torn meniscus, and in 2023 he lost both of his fights by first-round knockout. However, those losses came against the iron of the division: Tsarukyan, who is going for the title Saturday, and former champion Charles Oliveira. This bout will be a good measuring stick for where each fighter’s career is headed.
Heavyweight: Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
Here’s a tip for fighting Almeida: Do not let him get his hands on you. Here’s a dose of reality: It’s practically inevitable. In his eight UFC fights, Almeida has spent 87.3% of his time controlling his opponent, the most by far in UFC history in any weight class. In fact, no other active heavyweight has spent even half of his cage time in control. Spivac actually ranks fourth among current heavies … at a paltry 37.2%.
Lightweight: Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
Ferreira has turned around his career in a captivating way. After dropping three straight fights in 2021, he has won his last two and been awarded performance of the night bonuses both times. To make it three in a row, he will have to avoid getting trapped underneath Dawson, who has spent 61.2% of his time as a UFC lightweight in top position, the highest percentage ever in the division. Keeping a distance goes a long way.
The rest of the names … and numbers
Light heavyweight: Billy Elekana vs. Bogdan Guskov
0: Decision wins by Guskov (16-3), who has two submissions and 14 knockouts. He has 12 first-round finishes and has been to a third round only twice. Go grab a coffee, cageside judges.
Middleweight: Zachary Reese vs. Azamat Bekoev
4: First-minute finishes by Reese in nine pro fights, including a 20-second knockout of Julian Marquez last June for his first UFC win. Another (quick) coffee break for the judges?
Women’s bantamweight: Karol Rosa vs. Ailin Perez
2.22: Striking differential (strikes landed for every one absorbed) in the UFC by Rosa, the best in division history. Yes, this is the weight class once ruled by the GOAT of women’s MMA, Amanda Nunes.
Men’s bantamweight: Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov
6: Pro fights it took Nakamura to earn a UFC roster spot. Since then, he is 3-0 inside the Octagon. The 29-year-old started in MMA less than four years ago after winning the under-23 wrestling world championship.
Men’s bantamweight: Ricky Turcios vs. Bernardo Sopaj
29: Season of “The Ultimate Fighter” on which Turcios won the bantamweight tournament. Coached by Alexander Volkanovski, Turcios defeated teammate Brady Hiestand by split decision in the August 2021 finale.
Men’s flyweight: Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clayton Carpenter
47: Percentage of Ulanbekov’s fights (8 of 17) that he has won by submission. He trains with Makhachev under coach Khabib Nurmagomedov, which is all you need to know about the Dagestani’s ground game.
ESPN’s Andres Waters contributed to this article.