Islam Makhachev is still on top. The UFC lightweight champion, a Muslim from Russia who is No. 1 on the promotion’s pound-for-pound list, retained his title and his ranking in the main event of UFC 311 in Inglewood, Calif., on January 18th.

Makhachev was originally scheduled to defend his title against Arman Tsarukyan, but the challenger suffered a back injury two days before the fight and had to withdraw. Renato Moicano was brought in as a last-minute replacement and submitted to Makhachev via D’Arce Choke late in the first round.

While some critics scoffed at Makhachev’s triumph — given that Moicano was a late replacement and is the company’s 10th-ranked lightweight (Tsarukyan was the No. 1-ranked contender in the division) — the bout presented undeniably obstacles for the champion. Unlike some late-replacement situations, Moicano was not wholly unprepared for the title opportunity; he was originally scheduled to fight Beneil Dariush at UFC 311, meaning Moicano had gone through a full training camp, just like Makhachev, and was physically ready to go on that particular date. Also, Makhachev had been training and studying to face Tsarukyan up until two days before the fight, and with the late switch he had very little time to get a scouting report and strategize for an entirely different opponent.

Nonetheless, the king of 155-pounders reaffirmed his dominance and flexed the grappling/submission skills that set him apart from the rest. Makhachev improved his professional MMA record to 27-1 with 18 stoppages (13 of those by submission). He’s won 15 straight fights, with his last loss coming in October 2015. He’s successfully defended the lightweight championship four times, and has notched a stoppage victory against everyone who’s challenged for his title.

As for his pound-for-pound rank, Makhachev has had a (pun intended) stranglehold on the top spot since November 2023, shortly after he finished Alexander Volkanovski with a knockout at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi. Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is the most exciting and explosive fighter on the UFC roster, and heavyweight champion Jon Jones is a living legend in the sport who is obviously UFC CEO Dana White’s favorite — but Makhachev, 33, has just been deliberately dominant and won’t give anyone an opening to take him over.

In the UFC 311 co-main event, Makhachev’s training partner Umar Nurmagomedov, a Muslim from Russia, lost in his bantamweight title opportunity against champion Merab Dvalishvili.