The UFC’s 2025 schedule of events features a light January itinerary, concluding with Saturday night’s UFC 311. Inside the United States, you can preorder UFC 311 on ESPN+ today.
While the official schedule of events for next weekend in combat sports indicates that this card is still booked for the Los Angeles area, specifically Intuit Dome, the new home court of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, the promotion faces a tough decision as to whether or not to move the event out of Southern California on a few days’ notice. If you’ve been following the various evening newscasts in recent days, Los Angeles and its surrounding communities have been dealing with wildfires.
Not helping matters for Los Angelinos is the fact that winds are forecast to strengthen once more, despite efforts being made to contain the wildfires. Even though the Clippers’ X (formerly Twitter) account posted on Friday that the arena still intends to hold UFC 311 as originally planned this coming weekend, UFC CEO Dana White is prepared for anything.
Our game tomorrow has been postponed by the @NBA due to the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles and out of respect for the public service resources needed during this time.
Tickets for the game against the Hornets will be honored on the rescheduled date. pic.twitter.com/m299WXLt2U
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) January 11, 2025
Dana White Mentions Relocation of UFC 311 to Las Vegas Still a Possibility
Moving the Jan. 18 card away from Intuit Dome in Englewood, CA would be the latest decision to relocate a sporting event out of the Los Angeles area in response to the wildfires. Ahead of the start of the NFL Wild Card Playoffs, the league elected to move the NFC Wild Card Game between the Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams away from Sofi Stadium.
In Sofi Stadium’s stead, State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ, the home ballpark of the Arizona Cardinals, will play host to the Vikings vs. Rams contest in the last Monday Night Football game of this NFL season.
Dana White has been monitoring the situation in Southern California closely ahead of UFC 311 on Saturday evening. Although White said as recently as Friday that there wouldn’t be a change in venue, Sunday, he announced contingency plans.
“If the fire gets bad, we’re coming to [Las] Vegas,” White began. “We’ll move it to Vegas if it gets too bad. But as of now, it’s all [a] go. The NBA’s going to go this week. We’re going to go [on Saturday night].”
It goes without saying that if a decision on the status of UFC 311 in Los Angeles is to be made, it has to be finalized in the coming days.
California State Athletic Commission Weighs In on Status of UFC 311
The California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) is set to sanction UFC 311 on Saturday night if the event still takes place in Los Angeles. As of this past Friday, CSAC still expected the first pay-per-view of the new year from MMA’s top promotion to originate from Intuit Dome.
“We are watching the ongoing wildfires and subsequent emergency and disaster response in the Los Angeles area,” CSAC said at the time. “Our hearts are with the residents of the region, and we appreciate the efforts of first responders in keeping the community safe. At this time, no decisions have been made about UFC 311, but we will continue to work with state and local officials and the UFC to determine the best course of action.”
🚨UFC 311 UPDATE🚨
Reached out to the California State Athletic Commission regarding the status of UFC 311 in light of the devastating fires sweeping through Los Angeles.
As it stands:
“No decisions have been made about moving UFC 311.”
They’ll “continue to work with state… pic.twitter.com/Q9IXSGMjSu
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) January 10, 2025
The combination of CSAC’s official statement from Friday afternoon and Dana White’s comments on Sunday afternoon have renewed discussion over whether the promotion should go ahead with UFC 311 in Southern California as scheduled this coming weekend.
Final Thoughts
While no definitive decision has been made to the host venue and host city for UFC 311 on Saturday night has been made as we head into fight week, attention will be paid to these decisions, just as attention will be paid to the main event and co-main event.
UFC 311 is currently forecast to be headlined by a championship doubleheader. In the co-main event of the evening, Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) and Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) lock horns for the UFC Bantamweight Championship, while the main event will see a battle for the UFC Lightweight Championship between Islam Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) and Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC.)
