5 takeaways from UFC 311: Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano

The UFC's first pay-per-view of 2025 went down last night. Despite a hastily re-arranged main event, the show was definitely a fun one.

UFC 311: Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano saw a number of excellent fights and finishes, and ended with two champions retaining their crowns. Both title bouts - as well as plenty of others up and down the card - created a huge number of talking points.

Here, then, are five takeaways from UFC 311: Islam Makhachev vs. Renato Moicano.

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#5. Kevin Holland's UFC career might be floundering

While a number of fighters suffered bad losses at UFC 311, it's arguable that the fighter who should be most disappointed is Kevin Holland.

Matched with Reinier de Ridder, there were hopes that 'Trailblazer' could get things back on track following his poor loss to Roman Dolidze in October. After all, 'The Dutch Knight' had looked worryingly sloppy in his own octagon debut despite a win, and was nowhere near as battle tested as Holland.

It didn't take long for that idea to change, though. De Ridder took Holland down early, and despite his best efforts, 'Trailblazer' couldn't really get anything going.

After being busted open, Holland eventually gave his back, and that was that, as de Ridder slapped on a fight-ending choke.

This was a big win for 'The Dutch Knight', but it's hard to see where Holland goes from here. He's now lost four of his last five fights, and his UFC career is clearly floundering.

Whether he can turn things around, unfortunately, is debatable based on this.

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#4. Jailton Almeida was the big winner of this event's switch-up

On Friday night, when Arman Tsarukyan was forced out of UFC 311 with an injury, it appeared that the big winner of the scenario was Renato Moicano.

However, despite being handed the opportunity of a lifetime, the Brazilian came up short in his title fight with Islam Makhachev. In the end, then, the big winner from the card's switch-around was probably Jailton Almeida.

The UFC seemed soured on the heavyweight prospect after his bad loss to Curtis Blaydes last year. Despite his bout with Sergei Spivac marking a clash of two top 10-ranked fighters, it was initially buried on the prelim card.

However, when Moicano was bumped into his fight with Makhachev, Almeida and Spivac were moved onto the main card, and 'Malhadinho' absolutely capitalized.

In an exciting fight, both big men exchanged dominant positions on the ground before Almeida was able to land a telling blow on the feet. He hurt 'The Polar Bear' with a big combination, threw him to the ground, and finished him off shortly after.

The win not only earned Almeida a $50k bonus, but it should go some way to erasing the memories of his loss to Blaydes. Realistically, he's probably still the best prospect in this division right now - and could find himself in a title fight in the near future.

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#3. Jamahal Hill fought Jiri Prochazka's kind of fight and paid the price

Coming into UFC 311, the big question around Jamahal Hill's fight with Jiri Prochazka was over whether 'Sweet Dreams' would fall into the trap and fight Prochazka's fight.

'Prochazka's fight', of course, would be defined as a wild, dirty brawl with big punches exchanged, usually ending with 'BJP' being the man still standing.

Most observers figured that Hill would be better off attempting to lure Prochazka into a more technical affair. Unfortunately for him, when it came down to it, he chose the wrong path - and paid for it.

'BJP' hurt him in the first round by dropping him with a left hook, and from there, Hill attempted to fight fire with fire. He did come back in the second, landing some big body shots that hurt the Czech fighter, but it was a war that just didn't suit him.

Indeed, the third round saw Prochazka turn up the heat, and after two knockdowns, he eventually put 'Sweet Dreams' away for good.

It was a fantastic fight that should cement Prochazka near the top of the mountain at 205 pounds, but it leaves Hill with a lot of soul-searching to do. He's skilled enough to rebound, but this was a major mis-step from him.

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#2. Merab Dvalishvili's cardio appears to be unmatched in the UFC

The most impressive showing at UFC 311 came in the co-main event, as bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili turned back the challenge of Umar Nurmagomedov. In doing so, he handed the Dagestani the first loss of his career.

In fact, the way that 'The Machine' fought here made it difficult to imagine any fighter at 135 pounds being able to beat him right now.

Nurmagomedov actually did very well in the first two rounds. He clearly outlanded Dvalishvili on the feet, took him down at one point, and seemed on his way to a massive victory.

However, 'The Machine' was never hurt or stunned, and in the end, he utilised his great equaliser - his insane cardio - to pull him to victory.

Put simply, Nurmagomedov just couldn't live with the wild pace of the Georgian, who never really stopped coming forward, even when he looked potentially outgunned.

'Young Eagle' began to look tired in round three, and things only got worse for him from there. Dvalishvili began to bully his foe around, hurt him with some big strikes in the fourth round, and was confident enough to casually taunt him in the fifth while also landing a couple of takedowns.

Essentially, it appears that anyone who wants to beat 'The Machine' will need to take him out early, before his pace saps their energy. Given the toughness of the Georgian, it's hard to see anyone pulling that off.

Based on last night's evidence, then, Dvalishvili will be the champion in this division for basically as long has he wants. This was a truly fantastic showing.

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#1. Islam Makhachev is a great champion - but also a lucky one

UFC 311 was supposed to mark the toughest test of Islam Makhachev's reign as lightweight champion. He was supposed to fight the last man to truly push him in the octagon - Arman Tsarukyan - in a long-awaited rematch.

However, Tsarukyan was unexpectedly forced out of the fight on Friday due to an injury, and instead of facing the top contender, Makhachev was instead matched with Renato Moicano.

The decision to use 'Money Moicano' as the fall-back option absolutely made sense. He was riding a four-fight win streak - the best of his octagon career - and had climbed into the top ten in 2024.

However, the truth is that Moicano was never likely to push Makhachev to his limits, and he appeared to know it, too.

Sure, the Brazilian gave it his best shot, even stunning the champ with an early shot, but once Makhachev took him down, it was over. Moicano scrambled, gave his neck, and the Dagestani locked down a brabo choke to force a tapout.

So what did this fight prove? In many ways, it showed that Makhachev has been as lucky a champion as he is a great one. This was his fourth successful title defense, but remarkably, it was also his second against a late-notice opponent.

Makhachev cannot control these kind of things, of course - and fans who decry him would do well to remember how Jon Jones flat out refused to fight in a similar situation in 2012.

However, the truth is that this win over an overmatched Moicano will do little to add to the Dagestani's legacy. That will have to wait until next time, hopefully against the UFC's first-choice opponent.