Now that UFC Fight Night: Dern vs Ribas 2 is in the books, MMA fans around the world can turn their attention to the first Pay-Per-View of 2025.
Two fabulous title fights top the bill out in Los Angeles, with reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev set to defend his throne against 22-3 contender Arman Tsarukyan in the main event.
The two fought to a razor-close decision in 2019, and whilst many fans are predicting another tight-nit affair at UFC 311, the welterweight champion is seeing the writing on the wall for a far more dominant display this time around.
The first PPV of 2025 will 'hopefully' go down live from Los Angeles on January 18, with CEO Dana White having now stated that UFC 311 could be moved to Las Vegas if ongoing wildfires continue to engulf parts of California.
UFC champion Islam Makhachev will be ready to defend his lightweight title wherever that championship fight takes place, and according to one UFC icon, his incoming rematch with Tsarukyan will be a more one-sided contest than their first fight in 2019.
Speaking via Submission Radio, welterweight champion Belal Muhammad explained how whilst Tsarukyan represents "the second best [fighter] in the lightweight division," there's still a sizable gap between Makhachev and the rest of the roster.
"But if I'm looking at their first fight, Islam did look sick, Islam didn't look the same, but I do think that Islam has grown so much since that fight regardless.
"And when you're looking at similar opponents - what Islam did to [Charles] Oliveira, and what Arman did to Oliveira - it's way different. Islam is just on another level to all these lightweights and he's just that much better everywhere.
UFC 311 is the second rematch of Makhachev's career, the first being his two iconic title showdowns with former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Muhammad, who is himself expected to face Shavkat Rakhmonov sometime in May 2025, believes that Makhachev will be looking to put a 'stamp' on his incoming rematch, as he did with 'The Great' last year.
"And he keeps getting better every fight, and the only rematch we've seen Islam in with his second fight with Volk, he finished him. And for this fight, he's trying to do the same thing.
"The first Volk fight was close so he's like 'Alright, let me show how much better I am than him'. The first Arman fight was close, and so I think he's going to put another stamp on it [at UFC 311]."
Belal Muhammad remains a close friend and teammate of Makhachev, and being able to be a part of the Russian's training camp is something that 'Remember the Name' will never forget.
"I was actually just in Vegas for the last two weeks, so to be able to train, work, watch and just be in that room with the energy, right? For Khabib [Nurmagomedov], he's got three guys that he's cornering but they all look great.
"They all look hungry, the [training] room is full of killers and I'm excited to see how they perform."
January 18 is set to be a busy night for the wider Makhachev team, with Umar Nurmagomedov, set to fight for bantamweight gold in the co-main event, in addition to Tagir Ulanbekov also scheduled to fight on the UFC 311 prelims.
"I do think that all three of them are going to win, all three of them have clear [and] easy paths to victory," predicted Muhammad, with all three of those athletes being moderate-to-heavy betting favorites.
"Khabib is going to start the year off big," concluded Muhammad; hopefully it's better than it started as Khabib Nurmagomedov was removed from a Frontier Airlines flight earlier this week.