Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is holding a special pre-fight press conference for its upcoming UFC 311 “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) mixed martial arts (MMA) event, locked and loaded for this Sat. night (Jan. 18, 2025) inside Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California.
In the five-round main event, reigning lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, will defend his 155-pound title against No. 1-ranked contender, Arman Tsarukyan. Shortly before that championship melee gets underway, current bantamweight kingpin, Merab Dvalishvili, collides with undefeated title challenger, Umar Nurmagomedov.
The LIVE press conference stream gets underway TONIGHT (Thurs., Jan. 16) at 9 p.m. ET in the embedded video above.
“I understand how good Arman Tsarukyan is, but I just feel like if we look at Islam’s last fight with Dustin and then look at Arman’s last fight with Charles, I just feel like there’s a gap,” former UFC middleweight champion, Robert Whitaker, said on his MMArcade Podcast. “I feel like there’s a skill gap.
“Everyone’s saying how well Arman went in his debut, last minute, short notice, but you look at the names and you look at the level of fights, you look at the stage that Islam’s fights were set on, I don’t know. Islam’s in a really good place right now. I find it very hard to see him getting defeated.”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 311 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early Disney+/FX/ESPN+ preliminary card matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining four-fight undercard balance on Disney+/ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 311 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 311: “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 311 fight card and PPV lineup click here.