Athletes
Fighters On The Rise | UFC 311: Makhachev vs Tsarkukyan 2
Highlighting Three Athletes Showing Championship Upside Early In Their UFC Careers
The opening pay-per-view of the 2025 campaign is an outstanding blend of present standouts and future talents that make up the UFC roster.
Headlined by a pair of dynamic championship contests pitting undisputed titleholders against the No. 1 contender in their respective divisions, with a matchup between former champs serving as the featured bout of the evening, the present is solidly represented, with a total of 13 ranked competitors making the walk into the Octagon at the Intuit Dome on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Holding things down for the future are the three athletes highlighted below: a pair of elite bantamweight prospects and an undefeated flyweight finisher looking to kick of the year by claiming a win over one of those ranked competitors.
WATCH: UFC 311 Embedded
This event promises to be an outstanding way to kick off the 2025 pay-per-view slate, and this trio of emerging talents is poised to potentially shine on the prelims and set the stage for the action-packed main card slate.
Here are the Fighters on the Rise for UFC 311.
Payton Talbott
Fighters On The Rise | UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano
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Fighters On The Rise | UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano
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Talbott was featured in my 2025 preview series of the same name, so you had to know he was going to kick off this ensemble this week, but I don’t think anyone would argue it’s not merited.
The 26-year-old Reno native is 3-0 in the UFC with three finishes, and 9-0 overall, with all but one of those victories coming inside the distance. He’s looked more impressive in each of his three trips into the UFC Octagon, and he kicks off his second full year on the roster by taking a significant step up in competition this weekend as he squares off with Brazilian veteran Raoni Barcelos.
After opening with a third-round submission win over Nick Aguirre that Talbott himself wasn’t overly impressed with, the Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) grad opened last year with a second-round stoppage win over Cameron Saaiman, battering the South African prospect throughout the first before putting him away 21 seconds into the middle frame. Three months later, Talbott marched in at UFC 303 and dispatched Yanis Ghemmouri in 19 seconds, earning the fastest win of his career, the fourth quickest finish of the year, and a Performance of the Night bonus, as well.
UFC 311 MAIN EVENT: Makhachev Erases All Doubt | Tsarkukyan's Journey
What has always stood out about Talbott is his rare combination of poise and precision, elements that you don’t always see in a fighter with just nine professional fights under their belt. We’ve yet to see him flustered or hurried inside the Octagon, and even when he wasn’t particularly pleased with his effort against Aguirre, he remained calm and recognized he was breaking him before quickly putting him a way less than a minute into the third round.
It’s those traits, as much as the highlight reel efforts he’s delivered, that have everyone in the industry paying close attention to his every step heading into this year, which is why this fight with Barcelos feels perfectly timed.
The 37-year-old is a seasoned pro and sharp in all facets of the game, sporting an 18-5 record that includes wins over Chris Gutierrez and Said Nurmagomedov, and competitive bouts against Timur Valiev, Victor Henry, and Kyler Phillips. In a comparable position last February, Barcelos halted the ascent of Cristian Quinonez, venturing to Mexico City and submitting the promising finisher in the third round.
A lot is expected of Talbott, and how he performs on Saturday will go a long way in helping to understand where he’s at in his development, where he fits within the division, and how quickly he could continue to climb the ranks in the ultra-competitive 135-pound weight class.
Clayton Carpenter
Clayton Carpenter Delivers 1st RD Submission In His Debut | UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs Blanchfield
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Clayton Carpenter Delivers 1st RD Submission In His Debut | UFC Fight Night: Andrade vs Blanchfield
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The MMA Lab has a long history of turning out top-end talent, including former UFC champs Benson Henderson and Sean O’Malley, title challengers John Moraga and Jared Cannonier, tenured veterans like Alex Caceres and Drakkar Klose, and the ascending bantamweight triumvirate of Mario Bautista, Kyler Phillips, and Marcus McGhee.
Carpenter currently profiles as the next to join that impressive collective of fighters from the Glendale, Arizona outpost to thrive on the UFC stage.
Sporting a 9-0 record to begin his career, the 28-year-old impressed with a gutsy win over Edgar Chairez on Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, battling through a tough first half of the fight to earn a unanimous decision win over the current flyweight mainstay. He made his promotional debut six months later, submitting Juancamilo Ronderos in the opening round, but was then out of action for 20 months before returning to the Octagon in October.
How To Watch UFC 311 In Your Country
Carpenter showed no real signs of rust in his return to action, opening the night with a second-round submission win over Lucas Rocha in a bout where he landed at a greater than 55-percent clip and garnered nearly five minutes of control time on the canvas, despite the bout lasting just over eight minutes. It was his second straight rear-naked choke finish in the UFC, fourth submission win of his career, and sixth finish in eight starts.
There is a grittiness to the MMA Lab product that hasn’t fully been shown in his two appearances to date, but was evident in his win over Chairez, and is the kind of thing that will continue to serve him well as he aims to work his way forward in the division. While he’s doesn’t have the blinding speed or “jump off the page” athleticism of some of his contemporaries, Carpenter has good strength and physicality for the division, and is well-rounded, which is a hallmark of everyone that comes out of the John Crouch-led desert crew.
UFC 311 COUNTDOWN: Merab vs Umar | Islam vs Arman | Full Episode
Saturday night, Carpenter gets a chance to make a splash to start the year as he steps in with Tagir Ulanbekov, who currently resides at No. 11 in the rankings. The 33-year-old is easily the most experienced opponent he’s faced to date, has long been viewed as a potential contender in the 125-pound weight class, and comes in having won three of his last four inside the Octagon.
The flyweight division feels primed for a massive year and there is the potential for tremendous change up and down the divisional ranks, with Carpenter having the opportunity this weekend to kick that off in earnest. A win over Ulanbekov would not only establish him as another dangerous emerging name to track in the division but could leave him on the doorstep of the Top 10, as well.
Rinya Nakamura
The unbeaten Nakamura was featured in the 2024 two-part Fighters on the Rise preview after posting a pair of victories inside the Octagon the previous year, but only managed to make one appearance last year, causing him to slip into the background a little as the bantamweight ranks continued churning out competitive fights and promising talents.
But make no mistake about it: the 29-year-old Japanese grappler is the genuine article, and someone that could make a rapid rise through the ranks with the right opportunities and results in 2025.
Khabib Talks Coaching Main & Co-Main At UFC 311
Nakamura won the initial Road to UFC bantamweight tournament with a first-round knockout win over Toshiomi Kazama in February 2023 and followed it up with a unanimous decision victory over Fernie Garcia to move to 8-0 overall. He was initially slated to face TUF runner-up Brady Hiestand last February at UFC 298, but “Bam Bam” was forced to withdraw, resulting in Nakamura facing and defeating another TUF alum, Carlos Vera, in his stead.
Now 9-0 as a professional, the former Under-23 freestyle wrestling world champion returns to action this weekend in a competitive bout with Muin Gafarov, a compact and dangerous grappler coming off his first UFC victory.
From the outset, Nakamura has been asking fans and observers to be patient with him, understanding that his transition into MMA is still a work in progress and that he still needs time to develop, as he made his debut in May 2021 and did so without any amateur experience. What he’s shown so far has been extremely promising, as he stormed through the Road to UFC tournament and swept the scorecards in each of his last two wins.
Running his winning streak to double digits would be a great way to kick off the year, and hopefully, by competing on the second card of 2025, it means we’ll get to see much more of Nakamura this year than we did last year.
UFC 311: Makhachev vs Moicano took place live from Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California on January 18, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!