Islam Makhachev will not face Arman Tsarukyan as planned tomorrow night in the main event of UFC 311.
However, the lightweight champion will still defend his belt, with undercard fighter Renato Moicano stepping in on late notice. The Brazilian made a keen effort to make championship weight of 155lb for his fight with Beneil Dariush, and now gets his shot at gold.
Tsarukyan’s reason for pulling out appears to be an injury, as he didn’t even make it to the scales for the main event. But there will still be two world title bouts involving members of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team as Umar Nurmagomedov made weight for his bantamweight clash with Merab Dvalishvili.
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Arman Tsarukyan out of UFC 311 main event
During the weigh-ins for UFC 311, news began to leak out that there was a chance Arman Tsarukyan would be pulling out of the fight. Red Corner MMA broke the news by confirming the details on social media, noting that an injury had ruled him out of the bout.
Islam Makhachev was second on the scales this morning, coming in at a surprisingly low weight of just 154.5lb, below the championship limit. But Tsarukyan was nowhere to be seen as the rest of the card tipped the scales, and rumors began to swirl that he was out.
Bloody Elbow sources confirmed Red Corner MMA’s report that the challenger is out of tomorrow night’s fight, but that the lightweight title will still be defended. Tsarukyan had previously claimed that he was ‘not 100 per cent in’ on MMA during a documentary.
“You told us yourself that you aren’t 100% invested in MMA and that there are a lot of guys out there who work harder and yet, you are one step away from becoming the best lightweight on the planet. Have you ever asked yourself ‘What if I was 100% invested in MMA?’,” his friend asked.
“Well, now we will see. The title fight will show if a man who is not 100% invested in this business can still make it,” Tsarukyan responded.
Dana White confirms that Renato Moicano will step in for UFC 311 main event
Moments after Bloody Elbow’s report went live, Dana White took to social media to share the news that Renato Moicano would be stepping in to take the fight. He also claimed that the UFC will ‘figure out’ what to do with Dariush, who is now without a fight.
Moicano is currently riding a four-fight win streak, and is one of the more exciting fighters in the promotion’s lightweight division. He told the promotion last night that he would be willing to lose the extra pound in order to make championship weight, and now gets the chance of a lifetime.
Dustin Poirier and Diego Lopes offer to step in for new UFC 311 main event
While Renato Moicano and Beneil Dariush always led the line of potential opponents for Makhachev, a number of major names were offering their services. Dustin Poirier and Diego Lopes have both taken to social media to announce their interest in making the fight happen.
Lopes is the number three-ranked featherweight in the world, but has only made one appearance up the weights in short notice catchweight bout against Dan Ige. Meanwhile Poirier was the last man to challenge Makhachev at UFC 301 last summer, losing by submission in the fifth round.
Poirier tweeted a teasing message to the UFC with a money emoji and the words “Hit me up,” while Lopes shared a phone emoji with a pair of emojis. Former champion Charles Oliveira also posted a video of himself in the sauna teasing a potential weight cut of his own!
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