The first PPV of 2025 is just around the corner, with UFC 311 topped by two fantastic world title fights: one for bantamweight gold, the other for the lightweight championship.
Despite concerns over lingering injuries to both champion Merab Dvalishvili and undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov, reports suggest that the UFC won’t have a Plan B in place.
UFC 311 title fights ‘will not have backup fighters’ despite injury concerns
UFC 311 is scheduled for Saturday, January 18 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and the first PPV of 2025 will feature not one, but two world title fights.
Dvalishvili faces Nurmagomedov for the bantamweight title in the co-main event before Islam Makhachev takes on Arman Tsarukyan for lightweight gold in the headlining attraction.
Despite concerns over lingering injuries to two of those four fighters, reports claim that neither of those UFC world title fights will have backup fighters on standby.
That information comes from MMAFighting’s Damon Martin, who has reportedly ‘confirmed with sources with knowledge of the plans’ for the two title clashes at UFC 311.
Backup fighters are typically put in place in case of a last-minute injury or issue on the scales; only one of the four main/co-main fighters has missed weight before, Arman Tsarukyan, who missed weight for his 2021 bout against Matt Frevola.
However, the more concerning issue is regarding the potential injuries to champion Dvalishvili and contender Nurmagomedov – both of whom have already confessed to suffering major damage in training camp.
Both Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov have revealed injuries
During a recent interview with Michael Bisping, Dvalishvili claimed that he was pushed into taking the title fight at UFC 311 despite “dealing with some injuries.”
This was the second time that the Georgian had hinted at such an issue, having ranted in an Instagram post over Christmas about how he wasn’t allowed in the UFC PI for treatment because his incoming opponent was already inside.
“I’m here out front of the UFC P.I., and security don’t let me go in because they said, ‘Umar Nurmagomedov is inside,’ and they are protecting him… Don’t worry, guys, I’m not going to smash him before the fight.
“But January 18 is a different story. I’m not able to go in UFC P.I. because I was supposed to get treatment for my injury… You better show up, Umar. Okay, today you will be protected. Don’t worry, I’m not going to punch you before the fight. January 18 no one will protect you.”
Nurmagomedov has also revealed that he’s trained for UFC 311 through an injury, telling Brett Okamoto via ESPN MMA that he’d broken his arm whilst in Dagestan.
“After I was in Dagestan, I punch my arm. I go to show the doctor and I show them. They did, like, not an MRI but when they check bone? An X-Ray? They did X-ray and they said, ‘You broke [your arm]’.
“You know after that, after 20 days I go again even when I was broken, I was running. I want to still be in shape, you know. Even that time I try run, try to do shadow boxing, try to be in shape. And after 20 days I go again, and it’s become much better.”
Considering that the UFC doesn’t plan on having a backup fighter on standby, fans are praying that neither injury causes issue during fight week – UFC 311 goes down on January 18.