LOS ANGELES – UFC 311 took a big unexpected turn Friday morning when Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from his lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev.
A new UFC 311 main event has been set, with Renato Moicano stepping in to challenge Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) for his belt.
Red Corner MMA first reported that Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) suffered a back injury during the official weigh-in on Friday morning, which Dana White later confirmed on Instagram.
It’s unclear when and how Tsarukyan sustained the injury, but he appeared to be able to participate in Wednesday’s UFC 311 media day and Thursday’s UFC 311 press conference without incident.
Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC) was originally scheduled to face Beneil Darish at UFC 311. Both fighters had their championship weight set at 155 pounds. Darish is one spot higher in the official UFC lightweight rankings, at No. 9, but Moicano, ranked No. 10, has a unique opportunity, as he has won four straight since knocking out Benoit St. Denis last September.
Darish will not be competing at UFC 311.
Makhachev welcomed the last-minute changes in an Instagram post.
With this change, the final updated UFC 311 lineup is as follows:
Main card (pay-per-view)
Champion Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano – Lightweight title match Champion Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov – Bantamweight title match Jamahal Hill vs. Jiri Prochaska Gilton Almeida vs. Sergei Spivac Kevin Holland vs. Reinier De・Ridder
Reserve card (ESPNews/Disney+)
Raoni Barcelos vs. Peyton Talbot Billy Elekana vs. Bogdan Guskov Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira Azamat Bekoev vs. Zach Reese
Reserve card (ESPN+)
Aylin Perez vs. Karol Rosa Muin Gafurov vs. Tomoya Nakamura Bernardo Sopage vs. Ricky Turcios Clayton Carpenter vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s UFC 311 event hub.
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