UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] is set for his first title defense, and it’s against an undefeated opponent.
At UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) will put his title on the line against [autotag]Umar Nurmagomedov[/autotag] in the co-feature bout. A lightweight title fight, a rematch between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, headlines the pay-per-view event (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+). The promotion announced the fight Wednesday evening.
Dvalishvili captured bantamweight gold in a dominant unanimous decision win over Sean O’Malley in the UFC 306 headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. Not only will “The Machine” risk his recently-acquired title against Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), but also his 11-fight winning streak which stretches back to 2018.
Nurmagomedov won his first headliner in August at UFC on ABC 7, where he outworked Cory Sandhagen over five rounds for a unanimous decision. Despite recently revealing he fractured his arm and saying he couldn’t fight in January, the undefeated contender will compete for the title in the first pay-per-view of 2025.
The latest UFC 311 lineup now includes:
- Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan – for lightweight title
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov – for bantamweight title
- Jamahal Hill vs. Jiri Prochazka
- Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
- Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
- Muin Gafurov vs. Rinya Nakamura
- Bogdan Guskov vs. Johnny Walker
- Ailin Perez vs. Karol Rosa
- Sedriques Dumas vs. Zach Reese
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Payton Talbott
- Bernardo Sopaj vs. Ricky Turcios
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.