UFC 310, the promotion’s final pay-per-view of an exceptional 2024, went down on Saturday night in Las Vegas, and it set the stage for some huge fights in the new year.
The fight most fans are looking forward to in the wake of the card will see welterweight champion Belal Muhammad defend his belt against Shavkat Rakhmonov. The pair were originally set to meet in the UFC 310 main event, but the fight fell through when the champion suffered an infection in his toe. Rakhmonov then accepted a short-notice co-main event clash with Ian Machado Garry, who he defeated by decision to cement himself as the next man in line for Muhammad.
With Rakhmonov meeting Garry in the UFC 310 co-main event, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and his challenger Kai Asakura were elevated to the headlining spot. Despite Asakura’s accolades as a former RIZIN champ, Pantoja made it look easy, choking his foe out in the second-round. It remains to be seen who he’ll fight next, but he is fast establishing himself as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport right now.
Outside the top two fights, the biggest winners of the card were Bryce Mitchell, Doo Ho Choi, and Dominick Reyes, who impressed with wins over Kron Gracie, Nate Landwehr and Anthony Smith respectively. Former interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane also won on Saturday night, but his decision win over Alexander Volkov was the subject of immediate controversy.
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