UFC 311 was a fun event.
The Intuit Dome is an amazing venue for the UFC. I’m hoping the promotion heads there twice a year moving forward. I’m also hopeful the event offers some monetary and mental relief for residents in the area who have been dealing with the wildfires on some level.
When looking back at the event in totality, here’s my take on who and what saw their stock go up or down after UFC 311.
UFC 311 Stock Up
The Intuit Dome
I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but take a look at some of these shots that were taken on Saturday night inside the Intuit Dome.
The arena had to jump to the top of the list when it comes to destination spots for UFC pay-per-view events.
Merab Dvalishvili
I don’t remember the last time I saw a more impressive win in a bantamweight championship fight. Dvalishvili was down two rounds on the majority of the three judges’ scorecards heading into the third frame.
What does he do? Simply outpace Umar Nurmagomedov for the final three to prove he is the deserving champion at 135 pounds. Dvalishvili has now won 12 fights in a row.
Here’s who he has defeated on this streak:
- Umar Nurmagomedov
- Sean O’Malley
- Henry Cejudo
- Petr Yan
- Jose Aldo
- Marlon Moraes
- Cody Stamann
- John Dodson
- Gustavo Lopez
- Casey Kenney
- Brad Katona
- Terrion Ware
Dvalishvili is arguably on the most impressive streak in the history of the division.
Umar Nurmagomedov
As great as Dvalishvili was, he only had to be that good because of the level of his opponent. Nurmagomedov handled Dvalishvili’s wrestling better than anyone else the champion has ever faced.
While Dvalishvili did secure seven takedowns in the fight, Nurmagomedov stuffed 23 of the attempts. Everything about that stat is remarkable.
All things considered, I’m not sure if there is another bantamweight in the world who can beat Nurmagomedov.
Jiří Procházka
Everyone knows Procházka is a wild man with no shortage of toughness. What he showed us on Saturday is a level of defense—via enhanced head movement—that made him enjoy a serious upgrade in his TKO win over Jamahal Hill.
Perhaps Alex Pereira is still Procházka’s kryptonite, but no other light heavyweight in the world has beaten him in 12 years.
Jailton Almeida
Almeida has rebounded well following a disappointing loss to Curtis Blaydes in March 2024. The best thing about his win against Serghei Spivac on Saturday was that he set it up with his striking.
An excellent combination wobbled Spivac before Almeida pounced and locked in the TKO just before the horn in the first round.
Almeida called out Ciryl Gane, but before that, he might need to get his revenge against Blaydes or lock horns with the winner of Sergei Pavlovich vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik on February 1. Almeida has already beaten Rozenstruik, so we’ll see how it plays out.
Reinier de Ridder
The former two-division champion from ONE showed he deserves to be ranked in the UFC. He made very quick work of Kevin Holland in a fight that RDR seemed to know would be an easy assignment for him.
I’d love to see him in with No. 11 Paulo Costa or even No. 13 Jack Hermansson.
Azamat Bekoev
The short-notice replacement made it clear he belongs in the UFC. Bekoev destroyed Zach Reese with some explosive ground-and-pound strikes. The 29-year-old looked like a guy who is perhaps two wins away from getting a ranked opponent.
Ailín Pérez
Beyond the signature twerking she has become known for, Pérez is rapidly improving as a fighter. She maintains an excellent work rate. She’s tough as nails and, most importantly, understands how to win rounds.
Pérez simply outworked Karol Rosa on Saturday night. When the new rankings drop, and with Holly Holm being released, Pérez should leap from No. 13 to No. 8 in the women’s bantamweight division.
Muin Gafurov
Several fighters saw their undefeated records demolished on Saturday night. Gafurov was responsible for taking Rinya Nakamura’s away.
Gafurov is deceptively athletic. He swings and kicks with knock-you-into-next-week power with his strikes, and his ground game is strong.
We need to see him produce a little more consistently, but he could be ready to make some noise at 135 pounds. When you consider he lost his first three fights in the UFC and might have been on the cusp of being released ahead of his win over Kyung Ho Kang in June 2024 (Kang was released earlier this month), Gafurov has experienced quite the rise.
UFC Stock Down
Renato Moicano
Was it a slip or a knockdown? That’s one of the questions some viewers had after Islam Makhachev briefly hit the ground during a flurry from Moicano in the first round.
No matter—moments later, the champion was showing, live and in color, that there are levels to this sport as he made the Brazilian tap quickly to a D’Arce choke. Quite frankly, Moicano is far from being at Makhachev’s lofty height.
Moicano wasn’t expected to win, but he looked like the 10th-best lightweight in the world, and at 35 years old—to lose that way—that’s a ceiling-defining loss.
Kevin Holland
Character and personality are great. They help to sell fights and partially legitimize a fighter’s presence on a card. However, at some point, fighters have to consistently win to remain useful to the promotion.
Holland has lost four of his last five fights and six of his last nine. At 32, he’s far from old, but if he hopes to maximize his talent, he needs to make a choice to commit to a weight class—ideally welterweight.
If he’s to shift his losing ways, he may have to drop the approach that suggests he doesn’t care about winning.
Payton Talbott
Talbott’s loss was not a fraud check. He is still the real deal. What we saw on Saturday was a young and talented prospect run into a tough veteran with an excellent gameplan who took the matchup and the odds personal.
Combine that with Talbott’s still-developing takedown defense and you get a one-sided major upset. Talbott has a lot of work to do when it comes to grappling, and because of his overall package, critics are going to point to all of the things surrounding his unique character as the reason he stumbled.
True or not, that perception is especially damaging after a loss. That said, there is no question in my mind, he’ll be back.
Rinya Nakamura
Even more than Talbott, Nakamura showed cracks in his game. Nakamura’s stand-up defense was highly questionable, and he waited too long to look to take the fight to the ground where he would have been more comfortable against Gafurov.
Nakamura is a lot further away from being ready to take the next step than Talbott. Quite honestly, pitting the two of them against each other next makes sense.
Here is a look at all of the results from UFC 311.
- (c) Islam Makhachev def. Renato Moicano via first-round submission (D’arce Choke)
- (c) Merab Dvalishvili def. Umar Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (48-47×2, 49-46) – (FOTN)
- (POTN) Jiri Prochazka def. Jamahal Hill 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-naked choke)
- Raoni Barcelos def. Payton Talbott via 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 def. Diego Ferreira via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Ailin Perez def. Karol Rosa via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
- Muin Gafarov def. Rinya Nakamura via unanimous decision (30-27×3)
- Bernardo Sopaj def. Ricky Turcios via unanimous decision (30-27,2, 29-28)
- Tagir Ulabekov def. Clayton Carpenter via unanimous decision (30-27×2, 29-28)
