The first UFC pay-per-view event of 2025 is UFC 311 and it is headlined by a Lightweight title fight between champion Islam Makhachev and challenger Arman Tsarukyan in the main event.
UFC 311 is set to begin on Saturday, January 18th and will be hosted at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
The fights will begin at 6 PM ET with the Early Preliminary Card, followed by the Preliminary Card at 8 PM ET and the Main Card at 10 PM ET.
Our article will give you our two best bets for the main event, as well as the current moneyline odds for Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan.
Our first best bet for the UFC 311 main event between Makhachev and Tsarukyan will target the champion to win by finish.
Makhechev enters this fight with an MMA record of 26-1 and 15-1 in the UFC.
He is a solid striker, averaging 2.65 significant strikes per minute and he has a striking accuracy of 59 percent. As for his defense, Makhachev absorbs 1.54 strikes per minute and has a striking defense of 61 percent.
His grappling is also solid, averaging 3.19 takedowns every 15 minutes and 1.1 submission attempts during the same amount of time. The Russian fighter has a takedown accuracy of 53 percent and a takedown defense of 90 percent.
Tsarukyan enters this fight with an MMA record of 22-3 and 9-2 in the UFC. He also is an excellent striker, averaging 3.79 strikes per minute, and has a striking accuracy of 48 percent.
His defense is also solid, averaging 1.84 strikes, and has a striking defense of 53 percent. The Armenian is also a great grappler, averaging 3.25 takedowns every 15 minutes.
His takedown accuracy is 37 percent and he has a takedown defense of 75 percent.
Makhachev is the overwhelming favorite in this fight, therefore we will be looking for him to win by any finish.
The champion has won seven of his last eight UFC fights by finish, therefore backing him to win by finish (+165) and retain his UFC Lightweight title is our best bet.
To go along with Makhachev to win by finish, our second best bet is on this fight to end inside the distance.
As mentioned above, the champion has seen seven of his last eight UFC fights end inside the distance, while Tsarukyan has seen four of his last seven bouts do the same.
Given that both fighters have a high finish rate, backing this fight to end inside the distance will be our second best bet for this UFC 311 main event.
Islam Makhachev | Arman Tsarukyan | |
Moneyline | -400 | +300 |
By Decision or Technical Decision | +100 | +650 |
By KO, TKO or DQ | +550 | +700 |
By Submission | +300 | +2500 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.