UFC 311 Results, Bonus Winners and the 8 Biggest Ties

UFC 311 started off with some ho-hum fights early in the night. The first pay-per-view of the year concluded with an entertaining main card.

Here’s a look at all the results from the card, the bonus winners and the eight biggest takeaways from UFC 311.

• (c) Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano via first round submission (D’arce Choke)
• (c) Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision (48-47×2, 49-46) – (FOTN)
• (POTN) Jiri Prochazka def. Kodra Jamahal via third round TKO
• (POTN) Jailton Almeida def. Serghei Spivac via first round TKO
• Reinier de Ridder def. Kevin Holland via first round submission (rear choke)
• Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27×2)
• Azamat Bekoev def. Zach Reese via first round KO
• Bogdan Guskarov def. Billy Elekana via second round submission (guillotine)
• Grant Dawson defined. Diego Ferreira by unanimous decision (30-27×3)
• Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
• Muin Gafarov def. Rinya Nakamura by unanimous decision (30-27×3)
• Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios by unanimous decision (30-27.2, 29-28)
• Tagir Ulabekov def. Clayton Carpenter by unanimous decision (30-27×2, 29-28)

UFC 311 looked amazing at the Intuit Dome

The Intuit Dome may have jumped to the top of my list for places to host UFC events. The backdrop at the Inglewood, California arena looks stunning. The lights on the seats and the overall environment play nicely on the TV.

Longtime combat sports reporter Luke Thomas shared the same sentiment.

Islam Makhachev makes Renato Moicano look like a number 10

In the main event, UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev made quick work of No. 10-ranked Renato Moicano to successfully defend his title. Makhachev won after forcing Moicano to submit with his signature D’arce choke.

Moicano stepped in on a day’s notice to replace the injured Arman Tsarukyan and Makhachev made it clear the Brazilian is nowhere near his level. The only fight that still makes sense for Makhachev is a title defense against Ilia Topuria, if he moves up in weight.

Merab Dvalishvili is a special champion

Umar Nurmagomedov is worldwide, he proved it on Saturday night in the main event. And that’s what makes Merab Dvalishvili’s come-from-behind victory even more impressive.

After Dvalishvili appeared to lose the first two rounds of the fight, the Georgian’s pace proved too much for Nurmagomedov. Like all of Dvalishvili’s past opponents in his epic winning streak, Nurmagomedov melted down.

In a five-round fight, if someone doesn’t put Dvalishvili to sleep early, it will be hard to imagine who beats him in a championship fight.

Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill went to war

Respect goes to Jiří Procházka and Jamahal Hill.

The two former heavyweight champions put on an amazing, all-around match. Procházka prevailed by TKO in the third round, but Hill had his moments.

Procházka has already fought and lost twice to champion Alex Pereira, but after his win on Saturday, he asked for a third shot at the king of 205. Frankly, that third fight may never happen. Pereira is already set to defend his title against Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March.

It’s hard to imagine Pereira fighting Procházka for a third time before having a rematch with Jan Błachowicz. Procházka may have to wait for Pereira to move up to heavyweight if he wants to regain the bantamweight belt.

In any case, Procházka did his part in putting on a show on Saturday night.

Ricky Turcios has an insane tank of gas

This Ricky Turcio look looks like it’s straight out of a well-shot combat sports movie. Despite losing to an impressive Bernardo Sopaj, Turcios showed an impressive gas tank – a theme that would be emphasized again in the co-event.

Sopaj proved too much and he has the talent to be a player in the bantamweight division, but Turcios impressed me with his toughness and toughness. Whoever draws Turcios moving forward will have a tough task.

Ailin Perez will not stop working

Another win, another twerk for Ailín Pérez.

While Pérez has become known as the woman who shakes after victories in the Octagon, she is actually a very good fighter. Pérez ran her current winning streak to 5-0. Pérez entered the fight ranked 13th, but after her win over no. 9 Karol Rosa, she should be in the Top 10 next week.

Then she did this:

Payton Talbott has some work to do

Raoni Barcelos entered his fight with Payton Talbott as a +750 underdog, but the fights are not contested by opponents. Barcelo’s relentless ground game proved too much for Talbott.

The Brazilian took down the previously unbeaten prospect and dominated him for three rounds. Is Talbott still a hot prospect? Yes, but he has a lot of work to do after this humiliating loss.

Kevin Holland is officially a goalkeeper

Holland has a great trick: he doesn’t care about anything; he just wants to fight. He speaks constantly – even when he is at the bottom of a difficult situation.

RDR didn’t care about any of that. He faced the Octagon, took Holland down, and minutes later, the former two-time ONE Championship titleholder submitted his opponent with a naked choke from behind.

Holland have now lost two in a row, four of their last five and six of their last nine. At this point, he seems to be in a position where he should be the test for UFC newcomers who have little momentum.

UFC 311 was eventful, but now the promotion will take a week off before the February 1 event headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Nassourdine Imavov.