Undisputed lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev will make his return to the Octagon at UFC 311 — headlining the promotion’s first flagship event of the year, in a title rematch against current number one contender, Arman Tsarukyan at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California on January 18.
Makhachev, the current undisputed lightweight gold holder and the current pound-for-pound number one ranked fighter on the promotion’s books, has been sidelined since the beginning of June, most recently defended his crown for the third time with a fifth round D’Arce choke submission win over former interim gold holder, Dustin Poirier.
As for Tsarukyan, the current number one rated challenger earned his rematch clash with Makhachev for the crown at UFC 300 earlier this annum, turning in a controversial split decision win over former champion and common-foe, Charles Oliveira in April.
Islam Makhachev booked for UFC 311 rematch against Arman Tsarukyan
UFC CEO, Dana White confirmed Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan would be headlining UFC 311 on his official social media tonight.
First fighting at UFC Fight Night St. Petersburg back in 2019, Makhachev would hand Tsarukyan a hard-fought unanimous decision defeat in the pair’s short-notice clash, with the Armenian making his first-ever Octagon appearance on the card in Russia.
Winning vacant spoils against the above-mentioned, Oliveira two years ago with an arm-triangle submission win, Makhachev would rack up a pair of successful title defenses against former featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski, before submitting Poirier earlier this summer.
During his impressive run of four straight wins, Tsarukyan has bested the likes of Beneil Dariush, and Damir Ismagulov, to go with prior successes over names including Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Davi Ramos, Matt Frevola, and Joel Alvarez to name a few.
UFC 311 takes place on January 18. from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, with the lightweight title rematch fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan slated to take main event honors.