UFC 311 Post-Fight Tally

As we take a deep breath and decompress from UFC 311, we get a chance to really sift through the hype and think about how it stacks up against its predecessors. We try to let the dust settle and take a step back to see what moments stick with us and ones that fade away as fast as they came. For the first pay-per-view of the year 2025, the UFC did what they do best at the brand new Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, and put on a fascinating show for the starved fight fans around the world. The glaring take away here is that UFC 311 was littered with decisive victories, the mark of any thrilling fight card, but something about the stories of the divisions and how they played out over the night, doesn’t move the the needle forward quite like some of us fans would have hoped for. We got upsets, devastating finishes and fighters firmly staking their territory in their divisions. This fight card looked little different than expected with a last minute fight change as Arman Tsarukyan, the main event title challenger pulled out last minute with what is being reported as a back injury. The disapproval of the boss Dana White in the media would indicate that just maybe this wasn’t a back injury, rather a weight cut issue. Dana’s patience is low when it comes to fighters not making weight, and all the signs in Dana’s address of the situation to the media point towards the latter. The boss claims Arman will not be given another title shot without “earning” it. In tow of the fight change, Renato “money” Moicano was slotted in to fight for the title, an opportunity that seemed to be looming in the air for the better part of 2024. His previously scheduled fight with Beniel Dariush was scrubbed from the card, with Dariush receiving his show and win money in consolation. The fight between Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac was promoted from the preliminary card and took its place. Fight fans received the card changes with open arms as the expected pay-per-view buys soared after the change was announced. This can be linked with “Money” Moicano stepping up to the plate. The fan favorite has been trending for years towards this kind of opportunity. With all the changes set in place, fans were eager to see some of the betting underdogs get their moment to shine on the world stage.

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In the first fight of the UFC 311 main card, fighters Kevin Holland and Reineir De Ridder took the octagon for their middleweight matchup to set the tone. All the hype for this fight was centered around the “who is this guy?” factor that De Ridder had coming in for the common fan. Even for the fan that tunes in four times a year, they would likely see a Kevin Holland fight sprinkled in there. This guy fights four times a year and seemingly pops up on every premier  pay-per-view the UFC holds. More times than you can count, Kevin Holland has stood on the other side of the octagon from high level prospects, passerby’s on their way to the top 5. Who is this De Ridder guy? Stories of De Ridder’s double champ status in One Championship echoed in the halls of his new promotion. Is he really that good? Was he fighting lesser competition? What if he is that good? The hype of a new character emerging in the middleweight division, coupled with the recent changes the division has seen makes this fight a compelling watch. We surmised that the fight could go one of two ways leading up to the fight. Either De Ridder would take down Holland and hold him there, or Kevin Holland would weather the take down attempts and stack damage on the feet. Well… we got one of those. Reineir De Ridder very quickly got Kevin Holland off his feet within 15 seconds of the start of the fight, taking top position in full guard. He quickly worked Holland, reigning down big shots from his feet all while keeping Kevin on his back. Fast forward a few minutes, De Ridder found Hollands back and submitted him with a rear naked choke, making a powerful statement to all the fighters in the middleweight division. De Ridder has set the tone that he is ready for the top 10 and could be a few decisive victories away from the throne. To say Kevin Holland has been somewhat of a gatekeeper in the division sounds disrespectful, but cant be denied. It seems that the path to the top 10 in the middleweight division tends to run through Kevin Holland. Being known as a gatekeeper is synonymous with what many people in this sport call a journeyman, a benchmark fighter, a test to see if you belong. Kevin Holland might be the face of these types of guys because he gets a lot of premier placements on stacked cards, often fighting 3-4 times a year. Gatekeeper or not, he is a fun watch. Reineir De Ridder’s circumstances will be no different, expect two things. He will get a high level guy for his next fight and he will keep winning until someone can stuff his takedowns. This fight earned a 6.0/10, where a majority of the value derived comes from the new guy effect and the implications hell have on the very fluid middleweight division.

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For the second fight of the evening, the fans got the timely promotion of Jailton Almeida and Serghei Spivac to the main card. These two heavyweights have been making waves in the division for some time with big finishes that have kept their names in the mix amongst the best in the division. The heavyweight division is extremely top heavy, lacking the star power the heaviest division in combat sports hasn’t gone without in a long time. A few wins for anyone in the top 15 will land them amongst the top contenders and it is no different for these two fighters. Originally a prelim bout, this fight was flying way under the radar. Jailton Almeida has been flying through the rankings since his debut back in 2021, a momentum that was ultimately stopped by Curtis Blaydes in March of last year. Spivac has had spotty success going on 2-3 fight win streaks. However, Almeida is the obvious talent out of the two fighters. For the last few years, you got a sense this guy was on cruise control to the title and one loss to the extremely dangerous Curtis Blaydes, doesn’t seem to blemish the resume of Almeida. Spivac on the other hand, has the tenacity to stand and bang with anyone, but makes too many mistakes to take his career to the next level. This fight was the obvious choice for the main card for many reasons and it was a treat to watch these guys duke it out on the big stage. The thing about heavyweights is, often times one mistake can change a fight completely, the raw power these 265 pounders have in their hands and feet can punish any mistake made, in a blink of an eye. Almeida is a great decision maker, and extremely fit for the weight class, so it takes a special game plan to beat him. These fighters took the octagon on Saturday for a relatively short bout, as Almeida made very quick work of Spivac. The fight began on the feet as the fighters felt each other out, quickly moving to the ground early in round one with Spivac getting the takedown. After trying to work his top position using ground and pound, Spivac was reversed onto his back by the crafty ground game of Almeida. The fight gets stood back up after a minute, where the night would end early for the fighters as Almeida landed a huge right hand the stumbled Spivac. Almeida rained down a barrage of punches that would secure the TKO victory. One thing is for sure after UFC 311, Almeida belongs with the best of them in the heavyweight division. Expect him to be fighting another top 5 guy soon as he jockeys for contendership. Spivac will most likely get a fight with an up and comer next or get a filler matchup on a future card.

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The third fight of the evening, one of the marquee fights on the entire card, a matchup in the making for years, Jiri Prochavska vs Jamahal Hill. Two titans, two former champions stepping in the octagon to finally settle the score. These two fighters were destined for each other, they seem to be the only two guys in the top of the lightweight division that haven’t fought each other. These two fighters entered the UFC around the same time and arrived to a division that had been lacking an identity since Jon Jones left years prior. Their respective skills landed them both in the top 5 of the division, both touching gold within the same year. These striking-heavy fighters were linked to each other after Jiri Prochavska vacated the belt. After beating Glover Texeira for the interim title, Jamahal Hill instantly cemented his validity in the sport. Internet trash talk came almost instantly rallying the fans need for this fight. Alex Pereira, the light heavyweight champ, has seemingly taken care of business in the division, fighting almost all of the top talent. As the champ rests, the division must keep moving forward. This fight isn’t the ticket back to an immediate title shot for either fighter, but rather a necessary step as the dust settles in a division that has a dominant champion. The fight began as any striker vs striker matchup would, the feel out period. Sometimes this lasts a minute sometimes the entire first round. Within a minute, both fighters turned the volume way up and got into a bit of a slug fest, leading to the highlight of the first round. Prochavska drops Hill with a straight left, leading to a scramble and Hill ultimately surviving the round. In the second round we start to see the difference in gameplay’s play out. Jamaal Hill started reaching with his punches, and if we know anything about Jiri Prochavska, its that he is a high level counter striker. “You reach, I teach.” And teaching he did, becoming more comfortable standing within range of Hill’s strikes. By the the third round we saw a labored Hill, slowing down drastically. Jiri found the punch that would stun Hill in the middle of the round leading to a flurry of punches that would end the fight, securing him a win by TKO. Some key takeaways from this fight. First, Jiri is that guy. Every time this guy shows up to fight, he puts on a full display of his warrior spirit that makes fans want more, simple as that. He moves different, brings his own style, isn’t afraid to take damage to deal some, and barely speaks English, further elevating the mystique he comes so naturally by. Jamaal Hill has had a bit of a repeat story here with this fight and his last one. Two counter strikers in a row, that have both put him away. Either its a lack of commitment to landing the strikes, or something else is going on with the psyche of the former champ. Jamahal Hill leading up to his previous fight and this one had never lost to a striker, but got tangled by Paul Craig and submitted to receive his only loss. From someone who has made it to the top by out classing people on the feet, being in turn humbled by that very thing can mess with a fighters confidence. It’ll be interesting to see how Hill bounces back and the path his career takes from here. Jiri will most likely take on the winner of Pereira vs Ankalaev, scheduled for UFC 313, unless another clear contender emerges in the weight class. This was our number one fight of the night, earning a 8.9/10. This fight had it all, hype, action, and will supercharge the top of this division for the next year.

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In our Co-Main Event of the evening, we got a high stakes title fight between the Bantamweight Champion Merab Dvalishvili and the undefeated Dagestani Umar Nurmagomedov. This fight had been trending upward in the lead up to the event, with a lot of trash talk in the media from the two fighters. Merab touted that Umar didn’t earn his title shot, leading Umar to clap back claiming Merab was “easy fight.” The bickering worked as the fans in the arena got loud for this fight. All that aside, everyone including us, thought Merab was in for a tough night. The story was written in the stars, here comes another Dagestani, dominant as all get out, showing up to dominate for a few years only to retire early back to the mountains in Russia. Khabib Nurmagomedov did it, Islam Makhachev will likely follow in those footsteps within a few years, it wouldn’t be a shocker to see it a third time with Umar. Merab proved us wrong in some ways, which ill get into, but winning this fight, seemed unlikely. Merab Dvalishvili took the win on Saturday in typical Merab fashion, a grueling 5 round decision victory, where his unrelenting forward pressure and cardio are just too much for his opponents. Merab isn’t flashy by any means, but his resumé speaks for itself. He has beaten most champions in the division, and is on a win streak that puts his name amongst the best bantamweights to ever do it. Fight fans love action, love flashy knockouts, love brash characters that put on shows, and Merab doesn’t really stack up in any of those categories, however he wins and wins a lot. Something that wont get its full respect any time soon. Umar brought the intensity in first round, baiting Merab to stand and bang with him. Umar was by far the cleaner striker of the two and ultimately in our eyes won the first round. In the second round we saw more of the same as Umar looked to counter strike Merab. Towards the end of the round Umar secured the take down in our eyes edging out the second round as well. The momentum changed rather quickly in the third. A noticeable decline in Umar’s cardio was evident, the one thing that needs to be in tip top shape to fight a guy like Merab. Although Umar gets Merab off of his feet again in this round, Merab’s takedown attempts are getting closer to working every time he tries. For the championship rounds, the trends continued. Merab secured takedown after takedown, continued to push the pace, and controlled his opponent enough to win the final rounds. Al ot of the expectation around this fight was that Umar was going to walk through Merab. Time and time again, Merab Dvalishvili proves the doubters wrong. Umar’s career is far from over, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these fighters met again in the coming years. Umar is still young, and has unrealized potential, with UFC Gold baked into his future already. This fight was entertaining, but something about a Merab decision win, which we predicted as one of two outcomes, makes us wish Sean O’Malley starched him at The Sphere. This fight earns an 8.1/10, a score that reflects the future of this division not shaking out like we hoped.

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In the Main Event of the evening, we got an exciting last minute matchup of the current Pound for Pound King and Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev vs the “savior” of the card, Renato “Money” Moicano. This bout offered the fans a chance at a massive upset and the buzz around the fight after it was announced quickly soared through the roof. Something about these dominant Dagestani fighters, we all expect them to win everything, but secretly hope some unlikely suspect gets their hero movie moment and finishes one of these guys. “Money” Moicano had the chance to be that guy on Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that moment. We’d like to sit here and break the fight into its smaller parts, but the fight was so fast, there is nothing really to report. Just a flawless performance, the type of performance you expect out of the sports best fighter. Islam quickly got Moicano off his feet and one his back early in round one. Within seconds, he locked up a darce choke barely breaking a sweat. When we talk about fighters that deserve a shot at double champ status by moving up or down in weight classes, to fight for a second title, Islam is the guy that deserves the shot. Far too often do guys start pushing for that opportunity that simply do not deserve it. Fighters come up and get gold, and want the McGregor treatment, a chance at double champ status without defending the belt multiple times. Islam is the opposite, He has defended his belt against many contenders, beat them all in clinical fashion, and has in our eyes earned his opportunity to move up and take the welterweight title. “Money” Moicano lived up to his name cashing out at almost a million bucks. Not a bad payday for stepping in on short notice against someone that can go down as an all time great when its all set and done. However, whats next for Moicano? We predict retirement in the next two years. The guy might stick around for some fights to make more money, or he might cash out soon and begin new ventures with his new found popularity. Moicano has had a long career, and honestly we don’t see him getting back to a title fight. There is enough red hot contenders in that division to make new fights for years to come. This fight was a fun match to speculate about for a few days, but other than that, it had filler vibes written all over it. I mean the matchup wasn’t even remotely close, but it sold well. This fight was a novelty, not necessarily the best matchup you could make. This fight earns a 7.3/10, earning a majority of its value from the quick and exciting buildup, and what it means for the division. A continuation of the Islam Era, the realization of Moicano’s positioning in the lightweight rankings, and the potential solidification of Islams opportunity for double champ status, something that hasn’t been achieved in years. The fight itself, although decisive, staying up light to get confirmation that fast of what we all thought would happen loses points for the fight.

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The whole card earns a 7.2 out of 10. A fair score.