Arman Tsarukyan is understandably devastated after having to withdraw from his first UFC championship fight at the last minute.

Arman Tsarukyan's year is not starting off as he planned.

Israel Adesanya envisions plenty of grappling exchanges in the UFC 311 headliner. Islam Makhachev (26-1 MMA, 15-1 UFC) defends his lightweight title in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan (22-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in Saturday's main event (pay-per-view,

Khabib Nurmagomedov has given his thoughts on Arman Tsarukyan being replaced by Renato Moicano to fight Islam Makhachev at UFC 311

Lopes is the number three-ranked featherweight in the world, but has only made one appearance up the weights in short notice catchweight bout against Dan Ige. Meanwhile Poirier was the last man to challenge Makhachev at UFC 301 last summer, losing by submission in the fifth round.

UFC 311 suffered a last-second loss in Arman Tsarukyan, who withdrew from the main event with Islam Makhachev due to a back injury. Just hours before he was scheduled to weigh in on Friday ahead of their lightweight title fight, Tsarukyan notified the UFC matchmakers of a lingering back injury that prohibited him from competing this weekend.

UFC 311 in Los Angeles was supposed to be headlined by Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan, but unfortunately, there was a last-minute change. On Friday,

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.

Who will walk out of California holding gold? The Sporting News will provide results from the entire UFC 311 fight card

Makhachev, 33, takes a 26-1 record into the fight that includes a division-record 14-match winning streak. He claimed his first championship Oct. 22, 2022, in a second-round submission of Charles Oliveira. Makhachev since twice defended his title against Alexander Volkanovski and once against Dustin Poirier.

Challenger Arman Tsarukyan is out of the lightweight title fight against champion Islam Makhachev, set for UFC 311 on Saturday, due to back pain. Dana White, the CEO of UFC, confirmed Friday that Renato Moicano will step in for Tsarukyan in the main event in Inglewood, Calif. The fight will be five rounds.