Recap Newsweek's UFC 311 fight night updates as reigning champions Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili retained their titles on a wild night at Intuit Dome.

Makhachev retained his title by submitting his late-notice challenger, after Dvalishvili kept his belt by handing Nurmagomedov his first loss

The reigning UFC bantamweight champion earned the first defense of his belt with a grueling decision over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311.

The co-main event of UFC 311 was a bantamweight title fight between defending champions Merab Dvalishvili and undefeated challenger Umar Nurmagomedov.

For one fleeting moment in the first round of Saturday night's UFC 311 main event, it looked like we might witness one of the greatest upsets in MMA

Merab Dvalishvili recent reply to Umar Nurmagomedov after being questioned about his love for Georgia leaves the everyone baffled.

A look at the disclosed fighter pay for Saturday's UFC 311 fight card, where defending champion Merab Dvalishvili earned the highest payout at $500,000.

In an interesting twist, the famed middleweight mauler Chris Leben was one of the judges for this five-round showdown; his first title bout since making the switch from fighting in 2022. And he was put to work by the two grappling-heavy fighters who had a couple of close early rounds.

Despite a tragic outbreak of wildfires across greater Los Angeles and a change to the main event just 24 hours before, UFC 311 proved to be an exciting kickoff to the 2025 pay-per-view schedule for the world's leading MMA promotion on Saturday.

In the co-main event of UFC 311, the bantamweight title is on the line. The two most dominant forces in the bantamweight division will clash as the champion Merab Dvalishvili (18-4) takes on his toughest test in the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov (18-0).

Check out the best photos from Merab Dvalishvili’s win over Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. (Fight and venue photos by Gary A. Vasquez, USA Today Sports)