An important lightweight contender fight has been added to the first UFC pay-per-view event of 2025.
Beneil Dariush and Renato Moicano will collide in a three-round bout Jan. 18 at UFC 311 from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif., the promotion announced Thursday.
Dariush (22-6-1 MMA, 16-6-1 UFC) enters the bout on a two-fight skid that consists of first-round TKO losses to Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan. The consecutive defeats have come after eight-straight wins.
Moicano (20-5-1 MMA, 12-5 UFC) has won six of his most recent seven outings, with the lone loss a short-notice catchweight unanimous decision defeat to Rafael dos Anjos. Moicano has won three in a row, most recently brutalizing Benoit Saint Denis in September.
With the addition, the UFC 311 lineup includes:
- Islam Makhachev vs. Arman Tsarukyan – for lightweight title
- Merab Dvalishvili vs. Umar Nurmagomedov – for bantamweight title
- Jamahal Hill vs. Jiri Prochazka
- Kevin Holland vs. Reinier de Ridder
- Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spivac
- Beneil Dariush vs. Renato Moicano
- Grant Dawson vs. Diego Ferreira
- Muin Gafurov vs. Rinya Nakamura
- Bogdan Guskov vs. Johnny Walker
- Ailin Perez vs. Karol Rosa
- Sedriques Dumas vs. Zach Reese
- Raoni Barcelos vs. Payton Talbott
- Bernardo Sopaj vs. Ricky Turcios
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 311.
