Daily Update: UFC 311 Card Changes, Chris Weidman, Logan Paul

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Friday update

– Our weekend plan is for me to do a week in review show with Garrett Gonzales today, and it’s a huge week of news. We’ll also be back tomorrow night with the weekend news and the first UFC PPV event of the year.

– The new issue of the Observer on the website is a monster issue considering our annual business year:

  • The most attended shows in martial arts in 2024
  • Who attracted the biggest audience of the year
  • Which companies drew the biggest crowds
  • Great UFC PPV ports
  • The largest pro wrestling drawing card by year from 1916 to 2024
  • The greatest enduring drawing cards of all time, and where the modern stars rank with the historical stars
  • Update on all the Vince McMahon legal matters, from the SEC findings, the criminal investigation and the lawsuits, plus more things that have happened regarding the Grant case in the past week, which is with Vince for his start of a new company
  • WWE and NBC book Saturday Night’s Main Event head-to-head with All In Texas
  • The history of this tactic, and an estimate of how much revenue it would cost AEW
  • WWE on Netflix, which episode it made for business, trying to figure out what the numbers mean, show time and more
  • WWE & TNA make a deal
  • New Japan Battle in the Valley coverage
  • The arenas in the United States that have hosted pro wrestling the longest
  • Bret Hart talks about his favorite wrestler and the life of Sweet Daddy Siki
  • What’s up with Corey Graves
  • Death of Ray Richards
  • The most detailed look at the TV ratings over the past week and key figures
  • Blue Panther vs. Witcher
  • Athena tours Stardom
  • New big shows in Japan are coming
  • Thoughts on the death of Bob Uecker
  • VOW best wrestlers of 2024
  • More about the AEW exhibition in Brisbane, Australia
  • Much more on AEW rating drops and where
  • Darby Allin update
  • Ticket sales for upcoming WWE & AEW shows
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • Conor McGregor sued again in a sex case
  • PFL drops Bellator name, releases Bellator’s biggest star and cuts tournament prize money in half
  • Lots of new stuff from GFL
  • WWE sets several business records
  • Notes on next Saturday night’s main event
  • Paul Heyman talks booking

– Arman Tsarukyan’s back went out while riding a stationary bike last night. The UFC tried to get him medical attention, but there was no way he could fight tomorrow, so Islam Makhachev will now defend the lightweight title against Renato Moicano. Moicano was scheduled against Beneil Dariush, but it’s off and Dariush is not fighting. Jailton Almeida vs. Serghei Spirvac is moved to the PPV show, and Merab Dvalishvili’s bantamweight title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov now continues last. The show is sold out at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.

– Dana White said that Moicano was told about the change before the weigh-in because Moicano had to make 155 instead of 156 for a non-title match. White said that when they told Makhachev that Tsarukyan was out and offered Moicano, he agreed without hesitation. Tsarukayn was considered a far tougher opponent.

– The races, originally on ESPN News, will still be there, but FX will also air them. Disney+ is too.

New lineup starts at 6pm Eastern on Disney+, FX and ESPN+

  • Tagir Ulanbekov (125.5) vs Clayton Carpenter (125.5)
  • Ricky Turcios (136) vs. Bernardo Sopai (135)
  • Rinya Nakamura (135.5) vs. Muin Gafurov (136)
  • Karol Rosa (135.5) vs. Allin Perez (135)
  • Zachary Reece (185.5) vs. Azamat Bekoev (185.5)
  • Grant Dawson (156) vs. Diego Ferreria (156)
  • Bogdan Guskov (205.5) vs. Billy Elekana (200)
  • Payton Talbott (135.5) vs. Raoni Barcelos (135.5)

PPV at 10 p.m

  • Kevin Holland (183.5) vs. Reinier de Ridder (184.5)
  • Jailton Almeida (235) vs. Sergey Spivac (233)
  • Jiri Prochazka (204.5) vs. Jamal Hill (205.5)
  • Islam Makhachev (154.5) vs. Renato Moicano (155) for the lightweight title
  • Merab Dvalishvili (134) vs. Umar Nurmagomedov (135) for the bantamweight title

-Want to thank people for feedback on the Sweet Daddy Siki story in today’s issue.

-SmackDown is tonight in San Diego. Tiffany Stratton vs. Bayley for the Women’s Title, Nia Jax & Candice LeRae vs. Bianca Belair & Naomi, Jimmy Uso vs. Carmelo Hayes plus Motor City Machine Guns vs. Los Garzas for a tag team title match has been announced, along with the return of Solo Sikoa. They had 9,800 tickets out as of last night and a sellout for the setup is 10,700 so it should end up being a sellout.

– Chris Weidman, 40, the former UFC middleweight champion who ended Anderson Silva’s reign as champion in one of the biggest fights in history, announced his retirement today. Weidman lost his last fight in December to Eryk Anders.

– The NCAA announced that women’s wrestling has been added as a recognized championship sport and the first national tournament will be in the 2026 season. There were 76 schools that had women’s wrestling teams last season.

– Tammy Sytch’s appeal to have her prison sentence reduced was rejected.

– A few remarks about the AEW quarter from Wednesday. The highlight for viewers, as is almost always the case, was Kenny Omega vs. Brian Cage (831,000/0.19) at the start of the show. The highlight with men 18-49, overall 18-49 was the Casino Battle Royal. Jon Moxley vs. Powerhouse Hobbs was eventually second highest in 18-49 behind Casino Battle Royal. The highlight of every women’s demo was Omega vs. Cage, but the first segment is almost always because so many women watch Big Bang Theory that Q1 is always the strongest for them. For 18-34, the highlight was MJF and Jeff Jarrett. Remember, this is TV viewers only and does not include MAX ratings.

– Logan Paul on his podcast said that Conor McGregor called him and said that the boxing match McGregor has been talking about could happen in India. Paul said that if the $250 million purse is real, he has to take it unless Nick Khan matches it. Like it’s going to happen. Paul noted that McGregor could not make the fight without UFC approval. Dana White has said that the match is not going to happen.

– The reason we haven’t heard much about the Dark Side of the Cage ratings is that episode one on 1/8 with Kimbo Slice only got 51,000 viewers. That’s well under half of what the event’s lowest-rated wrestling episodes have done.

– CMLL now headlines Mistico & Mascara Dorada & Neon as The Sky Team. Basically, they will be the best main event trio going forward. Their first match together since being named is tonight at Arena Mexico against Volador Jr. & Angel de Oro & Niebla Roja. Tonight also features a rematch of one of the best matches last year in Arena Mexico with Hechicero vs. Euphoria vs. Valiant vs. Esfinge, the main event of the anniversary show.

– Clay Guida is off the UFC roster. He has been with the company since 2006 and has the fourth most fights in UFC history. Giuda had lost three in a row and had some of the biggest fights in history with the likes of Diego Sanchez and Benson Henderson. If he wants to continue, the GFL is built on 40+ year old former UFC stars.

– Ozawa will make his first GHC title defense on 2/11 against Galeno del Mal, son of Dr. Wagner Jr.

– GCW’s show on Sunday at the Hammerstein Ballroom starts at 7:00 PM Eastern.