Islam Makhachev stretched his winning streak to 15 bouts with an effortless first round submission of Renato Moicano on Saturday night in Inglewood, California, in the main event of UFC 311.
Makhachev, who holds an impressive 27-1 MMA record, was initially scheduled to fight number one lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan, but Tsarukyan suffered "significant back pain" and was forced to withdraw, as UFC boss Dana White had revealed on Friday.
Moicano (20-6-1) was elevated from his scheduled undercard bout with Beneil Dariush for a crack at the lightweight title against the man considered by many to be the pound-for-pound number one in the sport.
Makhachev was gracious in victory, reiterating his desire to fight anyone the UFC decides.
"For me, [it doesn't matter]," Makhachev said in his post-fight interview. "[Whoever] can make 155 pounds, just step in the cage with me."
Moicano was tough on himself and said Makhachev was the better fighter. He admitted, however, that it may have been his one and only shot at championship glory.
"That wasn't a one-day notice," Moicano said after the fight. "That was a life's notice. I'm very sad. I spent my whole life for this moment and tapped in the first round."
The UFC 311 co-main event saw Merab Dvalishvili make the first defence of his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov in a high-level fight.
Both men traded nearly 20 punches per round in the first three rounds, while Nurmagomedov successfully defended seven of eight takedown attempts.
In the fourth the fight shifted in favour of Dvalishvili, who pushed the action with volume striking and prevented Nurmagomedov from using his wrestling base to control the fight on the mat.
Support in the arena moved toward Dvalishvili entering the final session and he entertained the crowd with some showmanship and acknowledged their backing. A visibly exhausted Nurmagomedov – the cousin of former lightweight champion and hall of famer Khabib – was unable to find a late flourish and the fight slipped away from him.
Dvalishvili earned a unanimous decision win (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to hand Nurmagomedov (18-1) his first professional loss. Dvalishvili (19-4) has won 12 in a row.
"Umar is a tough fighter and he's good, but he called me old," said Dvalishvili, who at 34 is five years older than Nurmagomedov. "Yes, I'm old but I'm working every day. I'm a harder worker."
He added: "I'm so proud of myself. I can retire today, and I can die happy."
Nurmagomedov said: "I think first round, I won. Others was close. And after first round, I can't punch because I think I broke my [left] hand, and game go other way, you know?"
Former light heavyweight champions Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill stood and traded blows for nearly 15 minutes in an earlier main card bout.
Despite suffering an eye-poke midway through the second, Prochazka (31-5-1) delivered a left hook, followed by a right hand in the third, en route to a comeback win after losing to current champion Alex Pereira last June in the main event of UFC 303. Meanwhile, Hill (12-3) is still searching for his first win in two years.
Jailton Almeida used his ground-and-pound to finish Serghei Spivac in a heavyweight bout by TKO at 4:53 in Round 1. Almeida (22-3) has won nine of his last 10, while Spivac (17-5) has lost two of his previous three.
Middleweight Reinier de Ridder had opened the main card in style, submitting Kevin Holland with a first round rear-naked-choke. It was De Ridder's 13th submission win. De Ridder (19-2) handed Holland (26-12) his fourth loss in his last five fights, while De Ridder improved to 2-0 under the UFC banner.
