The road to UFC 311 had a few last-minute bumps in the road when would-be lightweight title challenger Arman Tsarukyan suffered a back injury on Friday that forced him to withdraw from a main event rematch with champion Islam Makhachev, resulting in a detour by Renato Moicano led daily.
Makhachev was ultimately too much, securing a record-tying fourth successful lightweight title defense by defeating Moicano with a D’arce choke in the first round.
Afterwards, UFC CEO Dana White said Tsarukyan would have to earn his rematch against Makhachev again.
“He’s going back to the drawing board,” White said. “I don’t want anyone to ever fight injured. We’ve been in situations like this before. I went there with a doctor, went there with Heather.” [Linden] from the PI (Performance Institute), who – you can ask any fighter or anyone else – is the best in the world. Sometimes you miss opportunities, and he did. So we’ll see how this plays out for him next year.
“He has no chance of winning the title, so he has to fight his way back to the title.”
The 28-year-old Tsarukyan has been confident throughout his rise to No. 1 contender status and his four-fight win streak, so he took no issue with White’s comments about his missed opportunity and instead called former champion Charles Oliveira a five on social media -round rematch to determine the next man up.
“I agree with Dana White. Once my back is healed, I will be ready to prove that I am the true contender for number 1 by taking on whoever they put in front of me!”
“Charles Oliveira in a fiver makes the most sense.”
As for Makhachev, Saturday’s win over Moicano extended the champion’s long winning streak to 15, including a previous unanimous decision over Tsarukyan in April 2019. Makhachev’s 15 straight wins further cement him in the history books, as the streak tied him with Kamaru Usman’s season tie is second longest in UFC history, behind only Anderson Silva’s legendary 16-fight run as King in the Middleweight.
After spending all of 2024 firmly believing that UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones was undoubtedly the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, White finally changed his mind after the Dagestani destroyer picked up another ruby at UFC 313 had hung his belt.
“He’s No. 1 in the fight for the pound. I’ll give him that,” White said of Makhachev. “Are you happy? Is everyone happy now?”
“Islam was ready to fight anyone. “He stayed active and tonight he performed the way a guy should in a short-notice fight when you’re the best in the world and the champion.”
The 33-year-old Makhachev is already in the air and is achieving feats never before seen in the constantly crowded lightweight class. His previous total of three title defenses was the most of all time with numerous legends and all-time lightweight greats such as BJ Penn and his trainer Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Now Makhachev stands alone as the winningest 155-pound champion in UFC history and is a mandatory mention when discussing the division’s best. And in White’s eyes, the current pound-for-pound king has surpassed his Hall of Fame trainer as the greatest to ever do so in the lightweight division.
“One hundred percent, there’s no doubt about it,” White said of Makhachev as the lightweight GOAT. “He’s the pound-for-pound best in the world right now, and he’s definitely the best to ever do it in this division.”