The weigh-ins for UFC 311 in Los Angeles, California had been apace on Friday morning for over an hour when Red Corner MMA dropped the shocking news that Armenia’s Arman Tsarukyan, who was to fight for UFC gold for the first time, suffered an injury and is out of tomorrow’s pay-per-view main event.
Arman Tsarukyan is out of his #UFC311 fight with Islam Makhachev due to injury. According to our sources, the UFC is working on a replacement fight for Makhachev, with Renato Moicano among the options.. FOLLOW FOR UPDATES. pic.twitter.com/XAQkQjmSaj
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) January 17, 2025
This is not the first time that an Islam Makhachev title defense has been disrupted by a last minute injury. Alexander Volkanovski stepped up to rematch the champ last year when Charles Oliveira’s cut forced him out of his own chance for a rematch.
Unfortunately this time, the notice is much shorter. With weigh-ins already ongoing, the replacement would have to be someone who is already in town and on weight.
There are several lightweights on the UFC 311 undercard, but the only ranked matchup is #9 Beneil Dariush against #10 Renato Moicano.
Dariush is on a losing streak despite being ranked higher, but Moicano has won four in a row and is one of the few fighters at lightweight on a strong run of victories at the moment.
As such, it makes sense why he is the lead candidate to replace Tsarukyan according to the original report.
Manouk Akopyan of LA Times confirmed the report a few minutes after the original was posted. He also suggested that Moicano or Dariush are the likely potential replacements.
BREAKING: The #UFC311 main event between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan is OFF.
Tsarukyan suffered a back injury late last night during the final stages of his weight cut and cannot continue.
Makhachev will likely move forward with a fight with either Dariush or Moicano. pic.twitter.com/3tG3yAa8EQ
— Manouk Akopyan (@ManoukAkopyan) January 17, 2025
The co-main event of UFC 311 is another title fight as Merab Dvalishvili defends his bantamweight throne against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov, cousin of Khabib.
If a replacement fight cannot be booked for Islam Makhachev, then the card could proceed without him, although at reduced quality of course without the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world headlining.
