Preview: UFC 311 Prelims

UFC 311—the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s first pay-per-view of 2025—on Saturday at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles comes with a strong set of prelims attached despite some late changes. Light heavyweights are in the featured spot in a bout that has suffered the most significant hit on the undercard, as this was initially a major opportunity for Bogdan Guskov against Johnny Walker. However, with Walker out due to injury, Guskov now faces promotional newcomer Billy Elekana. The cast looks much stronger beyond that. Top bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott gets a substantial test against Raoni Barcelos, and Jailton Almeida meets Serghei Spivac in a battle between heavyweight grapplers. There are a few highlights further down the draw. A lightweight tilt pitting Grant Dawson against Diego Ferreira appears well-matched; either Karol Rosa or Ailin Perez could score a big win in a wide-open women’s bantamweight division; and top Japanese talent Rinya Nakamura looks for a breakout performance at 135 pounds.

Now to the preview for the UFC 311 “Makhachev vs. Tsarukyan 2” prelims:

Light Heavyweights

#13 LHW | Bogdan Guskov (16-3, 2-1 UFC) vs. Billy Elekana (7-1, 0-0 UFC)

ODDS: Guskov (-330), Elekana (+240)

The light heavyweight division has been in need of fresh blood for the last few years, and 2024 was a breakout year for Guskov. Uzbenkistan’s Guskov made his late-notice UFC debut in 2023 as a fairly one-dimensional prospect, offering a basic level of defensive slickness to go with his knockout power, and while he quickly got overwhelmed by Volkan Oezdemir in his first trip to the Octagon, the next few months saw him score knockout wins against Zac Pauga and Ryan Spann. That latter victory earned him a spot in the UFC’s light heavyweight rankings, and he appeared set to announce himself as a potential contender with a win against Johnny Walker on this card. However, with Walker a late scratch due to injury, Guskov now instead looks to hold serve against a promotional newcomer in Elekana.

Elekana looks to have the baseline size and athleticism to hang in this division, but he has yet to entirely show out on the regional scene. He can do some decent work, particularly as a striker from range, but he hasn’t shown much of an ability to dictate the terms of engagement in his fights, often winding up with an aimless and reactive approach. Elekana could wind up having the durability to make this an ugly fight, as Guskov looks to be quite dependent on his ability to find a finish. With that said, Guskov’s power seems like the surest bet here. The pick is Guskov via first-round knockout.

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Talbott vs. Barcelos
Guskov vs. Elekana
Almeida vs. Spivac
Reese vs. Bekoev
Dawson vs. Ferreira
Rosa vs. Perez
Nakamura vs. Gafurov
Sopai vs. Turcios
Ulanbekov vs. Carpenter