PBP UFC 311 - Makhachev vs. Moicano Official Main Card PBP Discussion: Sat. 1/18 at 10pm ET

[Someone88]

Yes! Great wins for Prochazka, Merab and Islam!

 

[Kowboy On Sherdog]

TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC FIGHTS: 8,009
TOTAL NUMBER OF UFC EVENTS: 718

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made the best of a bad situation in what was expected to be one of the biggest cards of the year. While it started slow, the event largely delivered when it mattered. With no undefeated fighter safe at night’s end, UFC 311 featured a pair of shocking upsets and a champ finding his signature move.


All Mixed Up: Ahead of UFC 311, four fighters with undefeated fighters prepared for competition: Umar Nurmagomedov, Payton Talbott, Rinya Nakamura and Clayton Carpenter. At the conclusion of the event, all four had lost.

You Wouldn’t Believe: Four combatants representing Texas set foot in the cage, and all four tasted defeat. Ricky Turcios, Diego Ferreira, Zachary Reese and Kevin Holland could not get the job done.

Flowing: Following a late change of opponent, Islam Makhachev successfully defended his lightweight strap by tapping Renato "Money" Moicano. The victorious Makhachev broke the 155-pound UFC record for the most consecutive defenses, formerly tied with B.J. Penn, Benson Henderson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Come Original: The winner of five straight title tilts, Makhachev also has the new record in the division for the most triumphs in championship affairs.

Don’t Tread on Me: Winner of 15 straight bouts, Makhachev is one shy of Anderson Silva’s all-time record. Fourteen of those 15 came at 155 pounds, further putting distance from the pack for that metric as well.

Down: Eight victories at lightweight for Makhachev have come by tapout, including three of his last five. He moves into sole possession of third place for the most subs in the weight class, trailing Charles Oliveira (10) and Jim Miller (11).

Crack the Code: Outworking Nurmagomedov over the course of five rounds, Merab Dvalishvili notched the first defense of his bantamweight throne. He is now the seventh man in UFC history to achieve this feat.

Champagne: Dvalishvili put distance between himself and all other 135ers by adding to his division-high win streak. His 11 victories at that division—his fight against Gustavo Lopez came at 140 pounds, similar to how Makhachev’s triumph against Bobby Green took place at a 160-pound catchweight—are four more than the next closest active bantamweight of Mario Bautista.

Don’t Stay Home: While he did prevail, Dvalishvili once again needed the full time allotment to get the job done. He has heard the final bell in 11 of his last 12 outings, and now sports a finish rate of 21%.

Transistor: Landing 111 significant strikes and seven takedowns on Nurmagomedov, Dvalishvili padded his lead at bantamweight for the most in both categories. Of note, he has now performed 92 total takedowns in his UFC career, passing Georges St-Pierre for the most all-time.

Do You Right: Leveling fellow former champ Jamahal Hill, Jiri Prochazka put himself back in the win column with his third-round stoppage. “BJP” has procured 30 of his 31 pro victories inside the distance.

Mindspin: Pounding out Serghei Spivac in the first round, Jailton Almeida lifted his pro finish rate to 95%. His lone decision triumph came over Derrick Lewis in 2023.

Beautiful Disaster: In a little over three-and-a-half minutes, Reinier de Ridder strangled Kevin Holland with a rear-naked choke. The Dutchman has only heard the final bell on two occasions after 21 pro fights, with his last decision dating back to April 2021.

Can’t Fade Me: Checking in 11 years older than his opponent, Raoni Barcelos defused highly touted prospect Talbott via decision. The resulting betting upset—Talbott came in with -1100 odds while Barcelos closed at +650—is by far the largest thus far in 2025 and may end the year as the highest, and the biggest since Gabriella Fernandes dispatched Cong Wang in 2024.

Give Me a Call: Once told he needed to record some finishes to get into the UFC, Azamat Bekoev made the most of his debut opportunity by wrecking Zachary Reese in a bit over three minutes. The American Top Team product out of Russia has scored 79% of his pro wins inside the distance.

Strong All Along: Overcoming adversity to elicit the tap, Bogdan Guskov came back to submit newcomer Billy Elekana. In doing so, the Uzbekistan-based combatant maintained his perfect 100% finish rate, while recording his first submission since hitting a triangle choke on Konstantin Andreitsev in November 2018.

Purpose: In the only women’s bout of the evening, Ailin Perez claimed a decision over Karol Rosa to advance her win streak to five. The Argentinian has earned four of those five wins at the hands of the judges, accounting for two-thirds of her full-length bouts.

Life’s Not a Race: After 11 UFC outings, Rosa has heard the final bell in all 11 of them following her decision setback to Karol Rosa. She is the first fighter in organizational history to start her run with 11 bouts without a finish.

From Chaos: For only the third time in his career, “Tajik” Muin Gafurov needed to involve the judges to get his hand raised, after winning by decision over Nakamura. Since joining the UFC in 2023, three of his four bouts have reached the final horn.

Wake Your Mind Up: The stoppage rate of Albania’s Bernardo Sopai fell to 83% courtesy of his win by decision over Ricky Turcios. It broke a streak of four-straight knockouts, win or lose, for the bantamweight.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into UFC 311, no champ had ever landed back-to-back brabo chokes in title fights, Hill had never suffered consecutive losses (15 fights) and Elekana had never been finished (eight fights).

Misdirected Hostility: Selecting “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar, Hill came up short to Prochazka. While far from the first pick from Lamar’s catalog for a walkout tune, Hill is the first to pick that specific diss track.

Thank Your Lucky Stars: Pursuing an entrance artist not heard in years, Rosa went with Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls.” Metallica was last heard ahead of a UFC fight when Brock Lesnar faced Mark Hunt in 2016.

Fight Facts: UFC 311 ‘Makhachev vs. Moicano’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship made the best of a bad situation in what was expected to be one of the biggest cards of the year. While it started slow, the event largely delivered when it mattered.

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