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By James Brizuela
Contributing Writer
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UFC 311 is set to place at the brand-new Intuit Dome, which is located in Inglewood, California. The fight card is already stacking up to be quite exciting, with Johnny Walker vs Bogdan Guskov, Payton Talbott vs Raoni Barecelos, and more.
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Now, UFC President Dana White has dropped some bombshell news, detailing what the main event and co-main event will be for the pay-per-view fight.
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Headlining UFC 311 will be the return of the Men's No. 1 Pound-for-Pound and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev returning to defend his title against No. 1 ranked contender, Arman Tsarukyan.
Joining them in the co-main event, which will also be a title fight is bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili taking on No. 2 ranked bantamweight contender, Umar Nurmagomedov.
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Makhachev has been on a tear since becoming lightweight champion, taking on and defeating Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski (twice), and most recently Dustin Poirier. Though Poirier was a huge challenge for Makhachev through all five rounds, he wore "The Diamond" down, getting a submission in the fifth and final round.
Makachev took some time off to heal from the fight, but many believed he would be facing Tsarukyan, which is now the case.
Tsarukyan has also been on a tear of his own, securing four straight wins against high-level completion that include Oliveira, Beneil Daruish, Joaquim Silva, and Damir Ismagulov.
The matchup between Makhachev and Tsarukyan should be fantastic, considering both have excellent wrestling and knockout power. Tsarukyan will have his work cut out for him, as Makhachev has been getting better each and every fight he was engaged in since securing the lightweight belt.
Joining them in the co-main event is another potential fight of the year, as newly crowned bantamweight champion Dvalishvili will defend his title for the first time against Nurmagomedov, who is still 18-0 in his career, along with having an undefeated 6-0 record in the UFC.
Dvalishvili is on an 11-win streak, most recently taking down Sean O'Malley to secure the bantamweight belt. With additional wins over, Henry Cejudo, Peter Yan, Jose Aldo, and more — Dvalishvili has taken on the top talent in the division.
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The same can be said for Nurmagomedov, who has defeated Cory Sandhagen, Bekzat Almakhan, and Raoni Barcelos, en route to his first chance at UFC gold.
UFC 311 is shaping up to be one of the best cards the organization has produced and is a great way to kick off the 2025 calendar year for the promotion.
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