UFC 311 Delivered Two Title Defenses
Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili retained their championships at UFC 311 on January 18, 2025. The event at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, combined a quick lightweight submission with a five-round bantamweight decision and several other finishes.
The champions took different routes
Makhachev submitted late replacement Renato Moicano with a D’Arce choke at 4:05 of the first round. Dvalishvili outpointed Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision, receiving scores of 48–47, 48–47 and 49–46.
The results preserved both belts, though the champions faced different demands. Makhachev finished before the first break, while Dvalishvili completed twenty-five minutes against a previously unbeaten challenger.
Three more main-card bouts ended inside the distance
Jiří Procházka stopped Jamahal Hill through strikes at 3:01 of round three. Jailton Almeida defeated Serghei Spivac through a first-round technical knockout, and Reinier de Ridder submitted Kevin Holland with a rear-naked choke.
Those outcomes left the bantamweight championship as the only main-card contest decided by judges. The other four bouts ended through submissions or strikes.
The preliminary card mixed decisions and finishes
Raoni Barcelos defeated Payton Talbott, while Muin Gafurov outpointed Rinya Nakamura. Grant Dawson, Ailin Perez, Bernardo Sopaj and Tagir Ulanbekov also won decisions against Diego Ferreira, Karol Rosa, Ricky Turcios and Clayton Carpenter respectively.
Bogdan Guskov submitted Billy Elekana with a second-round guillotine. Azamat Bekoev knocked out Zachary Reese in the opening round, adding another early finish to the evening’s results.
Sources
- UFC: championship scores and official finishes
- UFC: complete preliminary results
- UFC: event details and full card
