Islam Makhachev will look to defend his belt and teammate Umar Nurmagomedov will fight for the world title on the first UFC pay-per-view card of 2025.

Makhachev, the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, will put his lightweight title on the line against No. 1-ranked lightweight Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC 311 on Jan. 18 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif .

Nurmagomedov will look to claim another world title for Eagles MMA when he takes on bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event.

Tsarukyan gave Makhachev one of the toughest fights of his career when they met in 2019, with Makhachev winning via unanimous decision. Since that loss, which came in his UFC debut, Tsarukyan (22-3) has climbed the lightweight rankings by winning nine of his next 10 fights. A split decision win over former champion Charles Oliveira at UFC 300 in April set the Armenian fighter up for a second run at Makhachev.

Makhachev (26-1) hasn’t lost a fight in nine years, winning against Oliveira, former featherweight world champion Alexander Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier in June. Makhachev, the protégé of Khabib Nurmagomedov, will look to extend his UFC lightweight record of 13 straight wins and become the all-time leader with five victories in lightweight title fights.

Dvalishvili (18-4) won the bantamweight title with a dominant decision victory over Sean O’Malley at Noche UFC in September. Dvalishvili, nicknamed “The Machine,” is rated the No. 7 pound-for-pound fighter by the UFC and has won 10 straight fights, the longest winning streak in UFC bantamweight history. Dvalishvili has been dominant in his last four fights, with wins over former champions Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo and Jose Aldo before defeating O’Malley for the title.

Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s younger cousin, is undefeated in 18 professional MMA fights. He is ranked No. 2 by the UFC in the 135-pound division and punched his ticket to a title shot when he defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision in August. He was originally scheduled to fight Song Yadong on December 14, but that fight was canceled when his opponent was injured.

UFC 311 will also feature a light heavyweight bout between former champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka, and Kevin Holland faces former ONE Championship titleholder Reinier de Ridder.