Alex Pereira may not be competing in L.A. this weekend, but that didn’t stop the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion from having a face-to-face staredown with Russian social media personality, Hasbulla.
As UFC returns to pay-per-view (PPV) later tonight (Sat., Jan. 18, 2025) to stage UFC 311 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, Calif., the combat stars have begun to show out. This includes Pereira and Hasbulla, who touched down earlier this week in advance to Saturday’s massive card. “Poatan” usually attends the bigger UFC events when he’s not headlining them and Hasbulla is in attendance to support UFC 311’s co-headliners, Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov.
While Hasbulla has been known to square off with some of the top fighters and personalities in combat sports today, scoring a face off with “Poatan” seems like an unlikely scenario. That’s because Pereira is one of the most intimidating fighters on the UFC roster right now and someone who typically likes to keep things serious.
That all changed when Pereira and Hasbulla crossed paths backstage at UFC 311’s ceremonial weigh ins on Friday (replay HERE). They eventually came face-to-face for a tense (and very hilarious) staredown. A few seconds later Hasbulla headbutted Pereira and knocked the UFC light heavyweight champion to the ground. Pereira played it up and allowed the tiny Hasbulla a moment of victory.
Check it out below:
LIVE! Watch UFC 311 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
LIGHTWEIGHT REMATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) kicks off its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., Jan. 18, with its seemingly-unstoppable lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, defending his 155-pound crown against late replacement, Renato Moicano, in the five-round main event. In UFC 311’s championship co-headliner from inside Intuit Dome in Inglewood (Los Angeles), Calif., undefeated 135-pound contender, Umar Nurmagomedov, challenges newly-minted bantamweight titleholder, Merab Dvalishvili, for the undisputed crown. UFC 311 will also feature the exciting returns of former light heavyweight champions Jiri Prochazka and Jamahal Hill, as well as the pivotal middleweight showdown between Kevin Holland and Reinier De Ridder, and so much more! UFC 311’s start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (Preliminary card) and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 311 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the early Disney+/FX/ESPN+ preliminary card matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining four-fight undercard balance on Disney+/ESPNN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the UFC 311 PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 311: “Makhachev vs. Moicano” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 311 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
