Tsarukyan hast lost his opportunity to rematch champion Islam Makhachev following his late-notice withdrawal from the main event of UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. The news was revealed by UFC CEO Dana White on Saturday night at the post-fight press conference.
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.
UFC CEO Dana White says #1 contender Arman Tsarukyan will have to fight his way back to the title picture against Islam Makhachev.
After Arman Tsarukyan fell out of the main event rematch with injury on one days’ notice, Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) got the job done against Moicano (20-6-1 MMA, 12-6 UFC) courtesy of a first-round submission triumph in the headlining fight at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has given his thoughts on Arman Tsarukyan being replaced by Renato Moicano to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 311
As a result of Tsarukyan's dropout, lightweight contender Renato Moicano is stepping into the main to challenge Makhachev for the 155-pound title on short notice. Moicano was previously scheduled to face fellow veteran contender Beneil Dariush on the pay-per-view card.
It appears as though there is a massive change to UFC 311 as Arman Tsarukyan has reportedly pulled out of his lightweight title fight against Islam Makhachev and replaced by Renato Moicano.
Islam Makhachev will now defend his title against Renato Moicano, following the withdrawal of original challenger Arman Tsarukyan due to a back injury.
Charles Oliveira insists his rematch with Islam Makhachev will be the next lightweight title fight after UFC 311.
Renato Moicano, Grant Dawson, and six other UFC 311 fighters had higher reported payouts than Islam Makhachev after the lightweight titleholder defended his belt in the card's main event.
The UFC 311 main event is now Islam Makhachev vs Renato Moicano for the undisputed UFC lightweight championship. This shocking matchup has been made following a back injury sustai