Islam Makhachev couldn’t help but get one last pot-shot in at ‘lucky’ Arman Tsarukyan after dominating his lightweight title fight at UFC 311.

Fans react with skepticism to Arman Tsarukyan’s withdrawal from UFC 311 against Islam Makhachev after his statement.

UFC lightweight champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Islam Makhachev is confident ahead of his high-stakes title defense on Saturday.

Lopes is the number three-ranked featherweight in the world, but has only made one appearance up the weights in short notice catchweight bout against Dan Ige. Meanwhile Poirier was the last man to challenge Makhachev at UFC 301 last summer, losing by submission in the fifth round.

UFC 311 continues with the UFC lightweight title fight between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan. Check out our UFC odds series for our Makhachev-Tsarukyan prediction.

Makhachev, 33, takes a 26-1 record into the fight that includes a division-record 14-match winning streak. He claimed his first championship Oct. 22, 2022, in a second-round submission of Charles Oliveira. Makhachev since twice defended his title against Alexander Volkanovski and once against Dustin Poirier.

The ride to UFC 311 had some last-minute bumps in the road when would-be lightweight title challenger Arman Tsarukyan suffered a back injury Friday that forced his withdrawal from a main-event rematch with champion Islam Makhachev, resulting in a Renato Moicano detour on a day's notice.

Islam Makhachev doubts Arman Tsarukyan truly has anything special in store for him at UFC 311. Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) defends his lightweight title in a rematch against Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in Saturday's

An injured Arman Tsarukyan has been replaced in the main event of UFC 311, with Renato Moicano now challenging Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title – on one day’s notice.

UFC star Arman Tsarukyan agrees with Dana White that a title shot shouldn't be next for him after his issues at UFC 311.