UFC CEO Dana White shared lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s immediate reaction to the last-minute shakeup to his UFC 311 title defense.
Dana White announced a major change to the UFC 311 pay-per-view card this Saturday in Los Angeles. Just hours before the official weigh-in on Friday, White and the matchmakers got word that Arman Tsarukyan has an ailing back and that he wouldn’t be able to compete this weekend against Islam Makhachev.
True to the UFC’s business model, White and his staff devised a short-notice plan to save the top of the UFC 311 fight card. Renato Moicano, who was supposed to face Beneil Dariush in a lightweight contender bout on the main card, will now headline UFC 311 against Makhachev.
As of this writing, Dariush will not get a short-notice replacement opponent to fill for the promoted Moicano. White revealed the UFC ‘will take care of Beneil’ financially to make up for the last-second cancelation.
Makhachev, the UFC’s pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter, didn’t hesitate to accept the short-notice switch-up at UFC 311. White shared a reaction from the UFC lightweight champion that will send chills down your spine.
- READ MORE: UFC 311 main event between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan cancelled as fan favorite steps in
Islam Makhachev nodded to a Conor McGregor quote in reaction to UFC 311 shakeup
In a recent Instagram post, White revealed Makhachev’s reaction to Tsarukyan’s last-second withdrawal from UFC 311.
“When I called Islam he said ‘Brother, I’m the champion. I don’t care who it is, I will fight anyone’,” White shared.
“I don’t care, I’m going to bed. When I wake up, and whoever I’m fighting tomorrow, I’m good with.”
Makhachev and Moicano will now headline the UFC’s first pay-per-view card of the year at UFC 311. The last-second main event switch comes just days after the UFC weighed whether or not to move the card to Las Vegas amidst the ongoing wildfires in southern California.
Moicano, who has been on a roll since making the full-time transition to lightweight, will now challenge for the UFC lightweight belt on hours’ notice. He enters UFC 311 off of an impressive finish of the always-dangerous Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC Paris last year.
- READ MORE: Khabib Nurmagomedov details how he reacted to rare defeats before legendary UFC run… ‘My head pain’
Arman Tsarukyan suffers back injury ahead of UFC 311, Renato Moicano headlines
As of this writing, a timeline for Tsarukyan’s anticipated return to the Octagon, after pulling out of UFC 311, is uncertain. The Armenian contender earned the lightweight title shot after recent wins over Charles Oliveira, Damir Ismagulov, and Dariush.
Makhachev makes his latest UFC lightweight title defense after successful wins over Alexander Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier. A win over Moicano would break a four-way tie with Khabib Nurmagomedov, BJ Penn, and Benson Henderson for the UFC lightweight title defense record (5).
Follow along with Bloody Elbow all weekend long for all the latest news and notes from UFC 311.