UFC president Dana White recently announced the main and co-main event of UFC 311. For the main event, Islam Makhachev will be returning to rematch Arman Tsarukyan and defend his lightweight strap.
For the co-main event, Merab Dvalishvili, defending his bantamweight title, will be squaring off against Umar Nurmagomedov. Other than the two aforementioned Dagestani fighters, Tagir Ulanbekov will be facing Clayton Carpenter in the prelims of UFC 311.
All the Dagestani combatants on this card are related to UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, who will be in their corner on January 18, 2024. Makhachev is Nurmagomedov’s training partner and friend, ‘Young Eagle’ is his cousin and Ulanbekov is his teammate.
At the UFC 311 presser, the current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev talked about the same and poked fun, saying :
“We try to make it easy but it’s gonna be long night from him (Khabib Nurmagomedov). From the card opening Tagir Ulanbekov fighting the first fight, myself, Omar… I feel bad about Khabib. It’s gonna be long night for him.”
At the presser, Makhachev also made it clear that he has no interest in fighting current UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, who has called him out a few times in the past.
Check out Islam Makhachev‘s comments below:
Islam Makhachev isn’t interested in fighting Ilia Topuria:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 6, 2024
“I’m tired of giving chances to small guys. I need my second belt… I don’t want to give [Ilia] chance.”#UFC #MMA #UFC311pic.twitter.com/URaj32KNSF