Tag: ufc 311

Khabib Nurmagomedov Already Stressed Over Cornering Back-To-Back Title Fights at UFC 311

Khabib Nurmagomedov Already Stressed Over Cornering Back-To-Back Title Fights at UFC 311January 18 is going to be a busy night for Khabib Nurmagomedov. On Wednesday, Dana White announced that the…

Khabib Nurmagomedov Already Stressed Over Cornering Back-To-Back Title Fights at UFC 311

January 18 is going to be a busy night for Khabib Nurmagomedov.

On Wednesday, Dana White announced that the promotion’s first pay-per-view of the new year will be headlined by a lightweight title clash between reigning and defending champion Islam Makhachev and the division’s top-ranked contender Arman Tsarukyan.

On top of that, Merab Dvalishvili will make his first defense of the bantamweight crown when he meets undefeated sensation Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main event.

Those two title fights join the already-announced light heavyweight banger between former titleholders Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka.

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Considering that both Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov are famously a part of Khabib’s team in Dagestan, the UFC Hall of Famer is already stressing about having to corner his fighters in back-to-back championship bouts next month.

“I think it’s never happened before, or hasn’t happened until now,” Nurmagomedov wrote in a translated post on his Instagram story. “What a night is waiting for me, I hope I’ll survive.”

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Can Khabib Nurmagomedov go 2-0 in title fights at UFC 311?

For Islam Makhachev, it will be his third time putting his 155-pound crown on the line after securing two straight wins over Alexander Volkanovski before submitting Dustin Poirier in the fifth round of their UFC 302 main event in June.

Makhachev’s fight with Tsarukyan will be the second-ever meeting between the two. The first came back in 2019 when Makahchev defeated ‘Ahalkalakets’ via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 7. Since then, Tsarukyan has gone 9-1 inside the Octagon, his only other loss coming against Mateusz Gamrot. Tsarukyan earned his spot at the top of the lightweight ladder via a quartet of wins, including Ws against Beneil Dariush and ex-champion Charles Oliveira.

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Meanwhile, Umar Nurmagomedov — the cousin of Khabib — will compete in his first title fight at UFC 311. Despite being a perfect 18-0 in his mixed martial arts career with six of those victories coming inside the Octagon, Nurmagomedov is sorely lacking any noteworthy wins outside of a dominant performance against Cory Sandhagen in August that skyrocketed him toward the top of the rankings.

Before that, his UFC wins came against Sergey Morozov, Brian Kelleher, Nate Maness, Raoni Barcelos, and Bekzat Almakhan. Still, Nurmagomedov opened as a 2-to-1 favorite to defeat Dvalishvili and bring the bantamweight belt back home to Russia.

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Jamahal Hill Debates Who Got KO’d Worse By Alex Pereira With Ji?í Procházka: ‘You Got Dominated…I Got Caught!’

The hype for one of UFC 311’s most anticipated bouts is underway, as former light heavyweight champions Jamahal Hill and Ji?í Procházka traded barbs over who had it worse in their unsuccessful attempts to reclaim the gold earlier this year. Both Hill and Procházka never lost the championship inside the Octagon. They also challenged Alex […]

The hype for one of UFC 311’s most anticipated bouts is underway, as former light heavyweight champions Jamahal Hill and Ji?í Procházka traded barbs over who had it worse in their unsuccessful attempts to reclaim the gold earlier this year.

Both Hill and Procházka never lost the championship inside the Octagon. They also challenged Alex Pereira earlier this year in attempts to claim the gold but were easily disposed of.

“Sweet Dreams” challenged Pereira at UFC 300, getting dropped and finished in the very first round. “BJP,” meanwhile, was rocked and dropped at the end of the first round in his UFC 303 rematch with “Poatan” before being finished seconds into the second frame.

Procházka recently brought about his criticism of Hill’s fighting style, putting his fighting IQ into question. Hill responded through a YouTube video, taking shots at several of his light heavyweight counterparts, including a response to his upcoming Czech opponent.

Jamahal Hill vs. Ji?í Procházka: Who Got KO’d Worse By Alex Pereira?

“We had the same opponent in our last fight, right? In your last performance, you got dominated and knocked out,” Hill said. “You got dominated, and I got caught. There’s a huge difference. You’ve even got your ponytail leaning to the left. I hope you wear that ponytail in our fight so I can lean it back to the right for you.

“We can compare every performance — while I put on dominant performances, you just survive and scrape by with a win. We’re not the same.”

Procházka won the light heavyweight championship with a submission of Glover Teixeira at UFC 275. However, he vacated the title by the end of 2022 without making a defense due to an injury.

Hill went on to capture the belt with his own victory over Teixeira at UFC 283. Hill, however, was forced to vacate the title, too, after his own injury. That allowed for the initial fight between Pereira and Procházka that headlined UFC 295, with the Brazilian finishing “BJP” there as well.

Ji?í Procházka Takes Aim At UFC 311 Opponent Jamahal Hill: ‘In Your last Fight…’

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Ji?í Procházka hasn’t forgotten some past remarks from upcoming opponent Jamahal Hill. Procházka announced his return to action last week, taking to social media to reveal a clash with fellow former titleholder Hill for the year-opening UFC 311 pay-per-view in Los Angeles. The bout will mark both men’s first appearances […]

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Ji?í Procházka hasn’t forgotten some past remarks from upcoming opponent Jamahal Hill.

Procházka announced his return to action last week, taking to social media to reveal a clash with fellow former titleholder Hill for the year-opening UFC 311 pay-per-view in Los Angeles.

The bout will mark both men’s first appearances since respective knockout losses to reigning 205-pound kingpin Alex Pereira. While “Sweet Dreams” was stopped in one round at UFC 300, “BJP” narrowly made it to a second frame at UFC 303 before being violently stopped by “Poatan” for a second time.

Despite his own setback to the Brazilian, Hill had plenty to say about Procházka’s loss during International Fight Week. And the Czech star evidently still has that on his mind…

“I’m really looking forward for my next fight,” Procházka said in a recent video posted on X. “Jamahal, don’t speak about my performances, fight IQ, and all these things, because in your last fight, you didn’t show (anything), really.”

And it wasn’t just Hill who found himself in the firing line.

Procházka also sent shots the way of Magomed Ankalaev, who is expected to be next in line for a shot at Pereira’s gold after defending his spot on the ladder opposite Aleksandar Raki? at UFC 308 last month.

“This same guy, Ankalaev, in your last three fights, you showed totally nothing, so stay on the ground,” Procházka said.

Ankalaev is yet to face either Procházka or Hill. Regardless of the result of his expected challenge against Pereira, a showdown with one of the two could await him soon after, whether as defending champion or contender working his way back to the gold.

Reinier de Ridder Gets Second Fight vs. Kevin Holland At UFC 311 On Jan. 18

Fresh off his successful Octagon debut, former two-division ONE champion Reinier de Ridder has his next assignment in the calendar for UFC 311. After parting ways with ONE Championship earlier this year and subsequently returning to winning ways under the UAE Warriors banner, de Ridder (18-2) had his lifelong ambition of a venture to the […]

Fresh off his successful Octagon debut, former two-division ONE champion Reinier de Ridder has his next assignment in the calendar for UFC 311.

After parting ways with ONE Championship earlier this year and subsequently returning to winning ways under the UAE Warriors banner, de Ridder (18-2) had his lifelong ambition of a venture to the UFC come to fruition.

The Dutchman made his first appearance on the UFC Vegas 100 card at the Apex earlier this month, sharing the cage with middleweight veteran Gerald Meerschaert. While de Ridder faced some adversity in the opening two rounds, he ultimately added to his submission tally with a third-round arm-triangle choke.

And it’s not taken long for a new target to be placed in “The Dutch Knight’s” crosshairs. Per MMA Mania’s Alex Behunin, de Ridder will return at UFC 311 inside Los Angeles’ newly built Intuit Dome to do battle with the always entertaining Kevin Holland (26-12, 1 NC).

“Trailblazer,” a formerly ranked contender at both 185 and 170 pounds, has gone 1-1 since returning to middleweight this year off the back of a defeat to Michael “Venom” Page.

After landing a gruesome armbar submission to defeat Micha? Oleksiejczuk at UFC 302 this past June, Holland most recently saw a difficult start opposite Roman Dolidze compounded by a rib injury that left him unable to continue into round two at UFC 307 last month.

With this addition the current fights expected to take place at UFC 311 on Jan. 18 are as follows:

  • Ji?í Procházka vs. Jamahal Hill (light heavyweight)
  • Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac (heavyweight)
  • Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafarov (bantamweight)
  • 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)

Jamahal Hill Looks Forward To Ji?í Procházka Clash: ‘It’s Been A Long Time Coming’

A clash between two former UFC light heavyweight champions was recently announced during the post-fight show following the Fight Night event in Macau. After the fact that Jamahal Hill will be facing Ji?í Procházka at UFC 311 was seemingly accidently said on the broadcast, it was later reported all over social media. With Magomed Ankalaev […]

A clash between two former UFC light heavyweight champions was recently announced during the post-fight show following the Fight Night event in Macau. After the fact that Jamahal Hill will be facing Ji?í Procházka at UFC 311 was seemingly accidently said on the broadcast, it was later reported all over social media.

With Magomed Ankalaev finally being in position to face Alex Pereira for the title, that leaves the #2 and #3-ranked contenders in the division free to settle a score that has existed for a long time. On January 18 in California, Hill and Procházka will finally put this chapter of their careers behind them.

When Hill defeated Glover Teixeira to become champion, it was because Procházka had vacated the title due to a significant injury. With Hill defending his title against the returning champion set to be the next fight, the same pattern repeated itself with “Sweet Dreams” giving the title up which was then won by Alex Pereira at UFC 295 last November.

Since then, “Poatan” has finished both men in consecutive fights meaning that a long-awaited match-up between them makes total sense for the division right now. With the news coming out sooner that expected, Hill did not confirm in his recent interview with Inside Fighting that this would be his next fight though he has teased it multiple times.

“Yeah we should, there’s gonna be an announcement soon. It’s gonna be announced soon, it’s a good one, it’s a good one.”

When Hill was asked whether he could provide any hints as to which fight it might be, he said that this contest is long overdue which essentially gives the game away without saying the name of his next opponent.

“It’s been a long time, it’s been a long time coming.”

Hill was then asked whether the fight he’s signed for is the one that all the fans expect it to be and though the former champion didn’t want to sign off on this, he made it pretty clear that it’s a big, highly anticipated bout.

“I don’t know which fight y’all think it’s going to be but I know y’all won’t be disappointed by it.”

UFC Matchmaking Bulletin: Fights Added To Los Angeles-Held UFC 311

MMA News has you covered with this week’s UFC matchmaking bulletin, featuring all the additions to upcoming cards. With events being held most weekends, Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby have their matchmaking work cut out if they’re to fill them, meaning new bouts are confirmed each and every week. Between Monday, November 18, and Sunday, […]

MMA News has you covered with this week’s UFC matchmaking bulletin, featuring all the additions to upcoming cards.

With events being held most weekends, Mick Maynard and Sean Shelby have their matchmaking work cut out if they’re to fill them, meaning new bouts are confirmed each and every week.

Between Monday, November 18, and Sunday, November 24, a number of notable fights were made official by the UFC or reported as being in the works by reputable sources. For more information on those matchups, check out the links below:

Plenty of lower-profile matchups also came together. For those, check out this week’s quick hits:

But it wasn’t all positive, with two fights falling through or being adjusted. For those, see below: