In the main event, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev aims for his fourth consecutive title defense when he faces Renato Moicano in a short-notice fight. Moicano, who was originally scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush, replaced Arman Tsarukyan, who pulled out of the fight with a back injury.
UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili puts his belt on the line against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event.
Islam Makhachev and Renato Moicano faced off for the first and last time ahead of Saturday’s big fight.
This Saturday, Makhachev defends his lightweight title against Moicano in the main of UFC 311. Makhachev was originally supposed to rematch Arman Tsarukyan, however a back injury forced Tsarukyan out of the bout on Friday, clearing the way for “Money” to step in on short notice.
When asked about accepting a last-minute replacement, Makhachev kept things simple.
“I couldn’t leave the people without a fight,” he said. “This is all for you guys.” Moicano, in turn, had one final message for the fans in celebration of this sudden opportunity.
“I cannot afford to lose. It doesn’t matter if it’s the champion or not, tomorrow I’m winning.”
Nurmagomedov will corner UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 311 card. The former UFC titleholder was preparing for Makhachev to face Tsarukyan, but the originally slotted challenger was forced to withdraw due to a back injury during his weight cut. Renato Moicano now gets the title shot against Makhachev.
Ahead of the UFC’s first pay-per-view card of the year, Nurmagomedov gave his reaction to Tsarukyan’s late scratch.
“Honestly, I knew this yesterday, at 1 a.m, [overnight] before I [went] to sleep,” Nurmagomedov said. “Honestly, this can happen with anybody. If you guys remember 2017, March, it happened with me too. Then after that, I go to hospital, make surgery, come back and I tell UFC, ‘It was my mistake, give me other best guy. I’m going to beat this guy and deserve my title shot.’ It was the same thing with me.
“I just want to wish him all the best. He’s young. He’s tough. He can come back. He [has] to survive this situation and come back.”
Nurmagomedov will corner back-to-back title fights — first, Umar Nurmagomedov, who challenges Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight championship in the co-main event — but now has to prepare Makhachev for a brand new opponent in just over a day’s notice.
One thing the all-time great won’t do is take Moicano too lightly.
“Now, new main event,” Nurmagomedov explained. “I think with Moicano, he has very big experience in the UFC… 10, 11 years in UFC. He [has four-fight] win streak, and he’s on his prime. It’s a good fight.
“Of course, it’s not like Arman and Islam, but it’s still very competitive fight, and we [are] not going to underestimate this guy.”
