Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
The main event of UFC 311 is finally official, with Islam Makhachev due to defend the lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan.
That long-awaited rematch, which comes five years after Makhachev outpointed Tsarukyan in a competitive bout, will play out at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on 18 January.
Russia’s Makhachev is on a 14-fight win streak, including his 2019 victory over Tsarukyan – the Armenian-Russian who has won nine of his 10 bouts since losing to the now-champion, including his last four.
Most recently, Makhachev submitted Dustin Poirier in June to achieve his third successful title defence, while Tsarukyan beat ex-champion Charles Oliveira on points in April.
Makhachev is the UFC’s pound-for-pound No 1 fighter, and the 33-year-old also tops the Indy Sport rankings.
Also confirmed for UFC 311, the promotion’s first pay-per-view of 2025, is a bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov.
That fight will serve as the co-main event, as Dvalishvili makes his first defence of the title – against the cousin of UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Georgia’s Dvalishvili took the gold from Sean O’Malley with a decision victory in September, extending his win streak to 11. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov is 18-0 as a professional, having most recently outpointed Cory Sandhagen in August.
