UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili 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 Umar Nurmagomedov 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.
