UFC 311 is set to be the first PPV event of 2025 this coming Saturday and the lightweight title fight main event could be one of the Fights of the Year.
Fans in attendance at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood California will be the beneficiaries of what shapes up to be an incredible lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan.
The rematch between the two is a fight six years in the making after they first met at UFC Russia in 2019, in what was Tsarukyan’s UFC debut.
Ahead of their second meeting, Tsarukyan has attempted to get himself into the best shape possible to dethrone the current pound-for-pound number one and has even trained with the only fighter to have ever beaten Makhachev.
Alexander Volkanovski is backing former foe Islam Makhachev at UFC 311
The rematch between Makhachev and Tsarukyan is being highlighted as one of the most high-level MMA fights in recent years and will likely be a closely contested fight.
Makhachev’s former foe, Alexander Volkanovski has experienced the best the Russian has to offer, however, he was extremely surprised to see how much of an underdog Tsarukyan is and has warned fans to not be ‘surprised’ if he pulls off the upset.
“Wow, I didn’t expect him to be such a big underdog,” Volk said in a video on his YouTube channel.
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“Islam is very safe… (His team) are very very calculated, they don’t take unnecessary risks, they’re used to the scrambling, they’re used to real good control which is gonna be more Arman’s style.
“You’re gonna see some mad scrambles, their first fight was fun. Big fan of both guys, I like them both, I get along with both of them. It’s a tough one, I’m gonna have to go with, I’m just thinking of the value here, the value for Arman.
“It’s just hard, I think Islam’s safe enough, I think the majority of the scrambles, Islam probably ends up in better positions because of them, and striking he’s a lot more safe.
“Very fun fight and very competitive but I think Islam edges them. Arman shouldn’t be that much of an underdog… I’m gonna go with Islam… You can’t count Arman out (though), don’t be surprised if it’s very very competitive,” he finished.
Volkanovski predicts Merab Dvalishvili will retain his title in UFC 311 co-main event
It’s not only the lightweight title fight main event that has fans salivating as in the co-main event, Merab Dvalishvili defends his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov.
After winning the 135lb title back in September at UFC 306, Dvalishvilli is making the quick turnaround to take on the undefeated Russian phenom.
Despite ‘The Machine’ being a sizable underdog to retain his title, Alexander ‘The Great’ is picking him to hand Nurmagomedov his first loss.
“He shouldn’t be paying $3, I think I’m gonna have to go with Merab purely because of how much it’s paying. I think this is a tough fight even though he’s champion, Umar is a very tough fight because he’s got very good wrestling and very good striking.
“If this fight goes later rounds, I think (Merab) can really start to break Umar in them later rounds,” he predicted.