Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC President Dana White announced Friday that Islam Makhachev will defend the UFC lightweight title against Renato Moicano at UFC 311 on Saturday night.
danawhite @danawhite
BREAKING NEWS!!!! <br><br>Makhachev will now be facing Moicano for the lightweight title. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC311?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#UFC311</a> is LIVE TOMORROW on <a href=”https://twitter.com/ESPNPlus?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@ESPNPlus</a> PPV! <a href=”https://t.co/2JZevvpQP2″>pic.twitter.com/2JZevvpQP2</a>
Makhachev was originally supposed to face Arman Tsarukyan, but White said Tsarukyan contacted him Thursday night to tell him he would not be able to compete due to “significant back pain.”
UFC 311 will take place at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, marking the first time a UFC event will be held at the Los Angeles Clippers’ new arena.
Moicano took to X following White’s announcement to express confidence that he will upset Makhachev for the lightweight championship:
Renato Moicano @moicanoufc
Hey guess what I will be world champion tomorrow! God is so good! Thank you all the support <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ufc311?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ufc311</a>
Makhachev also made a post in which he seemingly welcomed the challenge of facing a new opponent on short notice:
Makhachev Islam @MAKHACHEVMMA
“What does this title represent? It means you’re the best in the world and if you’re the best in the world, it doesn’t matter who’s going to be standing across from you. What do I say? No? NEVER. Let’s do this!” <a href=”https://t.co/Nyj05z1mGs”>pic.twitter.com/Nyj05z1mGs</a>
The 33-year-old Makhachev is 26-1 in his professional MMA career, and he is in the midst of a 14-fight winning streak.
Since beating Charles Oliveira for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 280 in 2022, Makhachev has twice defeated Alexander Volkanovski, and he scored a fifth-round submission victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June.
White referred to Makhachev as the best pound-for-pound fighter in UFC, making him Moicano’s toughest opponent to date.
The 35-year-old Moicano owns a career record of 20-5-1, and Saturday will mark his first title fight in UFC.
Since losing to Rafael dos Anjos by unanimous decision at UFC 272 in March 2022, Moicano has reeled off four consecutive wins, beating Brad Riddell, Drew Dober, Jalin Turner and Benoît Saint-Denis.
White noted that Moicano has been preparing as an alternate opponent for Makhachev in case something happened to Tsarukyan, putting him in position to step in as a replacement.
Tsarukyan, 28, previously fought Makhachev on a UFC Fight Night card in 2019, and Makhachev won by unanimous decision.
Since then, Tsarukyan has won nine of his past 10 fights, including a split-decision victory over Oliveira at UFC 300 in April, which put him in line for a title shot.
Instead, the 22-3 Tsarukyan will have to wait his turn again, although it would make sense for him to challenge the winner of Makhachev vs. Moicano.
While a late change of opponent can be tough on the champion at times, Makhachev is listed as a -900 favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Moicano is a +600 underdog.
In addition to the Makhachev vs. Moicano main event, UFC 311 will feature Merab Dvalishvili defending the UFC bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov, and Jiří Procházka clashing with Jamahal Hill in a light heavyweight bout.
