UFC 311 is set to go down from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday. The main card promises to bring plenty of action with two championship fights, but don’t overlook the UFC 311 preliminary card either.
On the pay-per-view main card, lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will look to go 2-0 against challenger Arman Tsarukyan, who gave the champion a tough fight in a non-title match years ago. In the co-main event, bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will look to secure his first successful title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov.
The rest of the UFC 311 main card features former light heavyweight champions Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill clashing in a high-stakes match-up; Beneil Dariush and Renato Moicano meeting in a contest of elite lightweight grapplers; and Kevin Holland fighting Reinier de Ridder at middleweight.
Don’t miss the UFC 311 preliminary card, however! The early action features undefeated prospects, ranked fighters looking to climb the ladder and more.
5 Fights to Watch on UFC 311 Preliminary Card
Bogdan Guskov vs. Billy Elekana
Elekana is stepping in on short notice to fight Guskov, the No. 13-ranked UFC light heavyweight, in his UFC debut. A win over Guskov could be a massive shortcut for Elekana into the light heavyweight rankings.
Elekana is 7-1 as a professional and the winner of his last three. He has his work cut out for him in Guskov, his most experienced, talented and successful foe to date.
Guskov was set to fight Johnny Walker before Walker suffered an injury. Guskov finished Ryan Spann and Zac Pauga and will look to make it three straight. It’s a risky fight for Guskov, and expect Elekana to be aggressive. It should be a quick fight no matter the outcome.
Payton Talbott vs. Raoni Barcelos
Talbott, who is 9-0, is one of the UFC’s most talented blue-chip prospects. Talbott, a bantamweight, has seven wins by T/KO and one submission, meaning he has only gone the distance once.
Talbott has UFC wins over Yanis Ghemmouri, Nick Aguirre, and fellow prospect Cameron Saaiman. Barcelos, once a top prospect himself, is, on paper, Talbott’s toughest test to date, as well as his most experienced opponent.
Barcelos, 7-4 in the UFC, had a rough stretch where he lost four of five. He had been seen a top prospect himself after defeating Said Nurmagomedov in December 2019. While Barcelos is coming off a win over Cristian Quinonez, it is Talbott who is now the top prospect taking on a veteran.
Barcelos could re-establish himself as a major player at 135 if he can upset Talbott and hand him his first loss. And if Talbott is able to finish Barcelos, he could be only one or two more wins away from a top-15 opponent, depending on if the UFC feels he is ready.
This is a very meaningful fight for Talbott’s future and the bantamweight division as a whole.
Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
Almeida and Spivac will meet in a battle of top-10 heavyweights in what is an important fight in the division’s rankings. Almeida is ranked No. 6 (behind No. 5 Curtis Blaydes, the last man to defeat him), while Spivac is ranked No. 7.
Almeida, a talented grappler, rebounded from his only UFC loss with a submission over Alexandr Romanov. Almeida’s wins include Derrick Lewis, Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
Spivac avenged a loss to Marcin Tybura in his last outing. He also has a win over Lewis, as well as Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai.
With nowhere else to go, the winner would likely land himself a top-5 heavyweight next.
Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
Dawson will look to end Ferreira’s two-fight winning streak when the two lightweights meet. Ferreira finished Mateusz Rebecki and Michael Johnson to end a three-fight skid. Dawson holds a 10-1-1 record in the UFC and has won two straight.
The winner should undoubtedly find himself a top-15 match-up next.
The fight is intriguing, too, outside of the high stakes. Ferreira is a heavy-handed grappler, while Dawson is a talented, suffocating wrestler. The fight will likely hit the ground, and it will be entertaining to see what happens when it does.
Rinya Nakamura vs. Muin Gafurov
Nakamura is 3-0 in the UFC and has established himself as a bantamweight prospect to watch, defeating Carlos Vera, Fernie Garcia, and Toshiomi Kazama. He enters as a moderate favorite over Gafurov, who is 1-2 in the UFC so far.
Gafurov defeated Kyung Ho Kang to avoid starting 0-3 in the promotion – the win potentially saved his job.
With a recent influx of Japanese talent to the Octagon, Nakamura could continue climbing the ladder as the UFC is building him up slowly in a talent-rich bantamweight division. Gafurov is a step up, but a good test to see where Nakamura is at. A win for Gafurov would be huge in building his own stock as he looks to completely shake off an 0-2 UFC start.
What is your favorite fight on the UFC 311 preliminary card? Let us know!
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