The first UFC pay-per-view event of 2025 has already begun its formation, as the Ultimate Fighting Championship has already added three exciting bouts to the lineup.
UFC 311 is to go down on January 18, 2024, live from a to-be-determined venue.
In addition to a bantamweight clash between Rinya Nakamura and Muin Gafurov and a light-heavyweight bout between no. 8 ranked Johnny Walker and no. 14 ranked Bogdan Guskov, the UFC brass has also scheduled an incredible heavyweight bout for this event between no. 6 ranked Jailton Almeida (21-3) and no. 7 ranked Serghei Spivac (17-4).
Both of these talents have had a lot of fans and media stating they have championship potential in the UFC’s heavyweight division, and also the light-heavyweight division for Almeida.
Spivac came to the UFC in 2019 as the 9-0 WWFC heavyweight champion and would lose his promotional debut to Walt Harris (TKO) in just 50 seconds. He’d then defeat heavyweight staple Tai Tuivasa (arm-triangle choke) in his sophomore effort with the promotion, before losing to current no. 9 ranked Marcin Tybura (UD).
The Moldovan contender then went on to win his next three-straight, showcasing victories over the likes of Carlos Felipe (MD), Jared Vanderaa (TKO), and Aleksei Oleinik (UD), before losing to current interim champion Tom Aspinall (TKO).
Spivac would once more go on to win three-straight fights, defeating Greg Hardy (TKO), Augusto Sakai (TKO), and Derrick Lewis (arm-triangle choke) before losing to former interim champion Ciryl Gane (TKO) last September.
Spivac followed this defeat up however with an impressive stoppage win over Marcin Tybura (armbar) in their rematch this past August.
Almeida on the other hand came to the UFC in 2022 with a record of 14-2 and would go on to win his first six octagon bouts showcasing victories over Danilo Marques (TKO), Parker Porter (rear naked choke), Anton Turkalj (rear naked choke), Shamil Abdurakhimov (TKO), Jairzinho Rozenstruik (rear naked choke), and Derrick Lewis (UD).
This was followed up by a defeat to no. 5 ranked Curtis Blaydes (KO) earlier this year in March, the most prolific takedown artist in UFC heavyweight history of which he secured nine takedowns on 11 attempts against, before rebounding with a first-round stoppage victory over Alexandr Romanov (rear naked choke) in June.
Of Almeida’s 21 career victories, 20 come via finish with 13 submissions and 7 knockouts, while of Spivac’s 17 career victories, 15 come via finish with 7 knockouts and 8 submissions.
This is a very compelling heavyweight matchup between two potential future champions of the division coming to us this January. Who wins this clash going down at UFC 311?
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