The lineup for the promotion’s first pay-per-view of 2025, UFC 311 in Los Angeles, continues to get stronger.
The mixed martial arts will kick off its schedule of numbered events for the new year at the Intuit Dome, where two highly anticipated championship fights and a host of intriguing matchups will go down.
And not long after Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan and Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov were announced as the two headliners, the card has deepened even further.
Joining the undercard bouts set to play out at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 is a ranked lightweight clash between veteran Beneil Dariush (22-6-1) and the charging Renato Moicano (20-5-1). The fight was announced by the UFC on social media.
For Dariush, UFC 311 will mark his return after sitting out the entirety of 2024 following consecutive knockout losses to Charles Oliveira and Tsarukyan in the year prior. Before those setbacks, the 35-year-old had won eight straight to move to within touching distance of a first title shot.
Moicano, meanwhile, is on the opposite trajectory having won four on the bounce since a decision loss to Rafael dos Anjos in March 2022. After an injury kept him out for over a year post-submission victory over Brad Riddell, the Brazilian has reeled off three triumphs in 2024, most recently battering Benoît Saint Denis in the UFC Paris main event this past September.
With this addition, the current fights expected to take place at UFC 311 in Los Angeles on Jan. 18 are as follows:
- Islam Makhachev (C) vs. Arman Tsarukyan (lightweight championship)
- Merab Dvalishvili (C) vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (bantamweight championship)
- Jiří Procházka vs. Jamahal Hill (light heavyweight)
- Reinier de Ridder vs. Kevin Holland (middleweight)
- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano (lightweight)
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac (heavyweight)
- Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafarov (bantamweight)
- Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Clay Carpenter (flyweight)
- Johnny Walker vs. Bogdan Guskov (light heavyweight)
- Karol Rosa vs. Ailín Pérez (women’s bantamweight)
- Zachary Reese vs. Sedriques Dumas (middleweight)
- Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos (bantamweight)
- Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira (lightweight)
- Ricky Turcios vs. Benardo Sopaj (bantamweight)
