The UFC 311 card for January 18 has taken shape and it's looking like one hell of a way to kick off 2025 with the first PPV event of the year.
Several big match-ups were recently made official for the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles but amongst them was a top 10 clash that wasn't widely known about ahead of time.
In the lightweight division, #9 will face #10 when Beneil Dariush returns to take on Renato Moicano in a fascinating contest between two elite grapplers.
During his ten years of being in the UFC with 17 Octagon appearances under his belt, 2024 was the first time that Dariush did not compete in a calendar year.
He's currently coming off of back-to-back first round knockout losses to former champion Charles Oliveira and the next title challenger, Arman Tsarukyan.
Before his loss to "Do Bronx" in June of 2023, Dariush was riding an eight-fight win streak that included victories over Tony Ferguson and Mateusz Gamrot.
He will now look to snap this current skid by taking on an incredibly confident rising 155-pounder who has got money on his mind.
Moicano has won his last four with finishes over Brad Riddell, Jalin Turner and Benoit Saint Denis to put together the best streak of his UFC career.
In September, he earned his first main event slot and produced his best performance to date, dominating Saint Denis and finishing the Frenchman in Paris.
Though similarly to that win, beating Dariush won't skyrocket him up the rankings, the Brazilian is continuing to impress with each outing.
Both men could have been candidates to face the #13-ranked Paddy Pimblett when the Octagon returns to London, England in March but it now seems likely that the promotion has other plans in store for "The Baddy".
