UFC 310 on December 7th will mark the final pay-per-view event of the year and the two fights fronting the card have now been unveiled, with welterweight champion Belal Muhammad set to attempt the first defense of the belt against Shavkat Rakhmonov, while in the co-main event flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja welcomes Rizin champion Kai Asakura to the Octagon.
After going unbeaten in 10 fights, the 36-year-old Muhammad finally fought his way to title contention at 170lbs last time out and went on to dethrone Leon Edwards via a convincing unanimous decision victory.
That added to Muhammad’s prior wins over the likes of Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson and Demian Maia in recent years, and led to him claiming the No.5 spot on the current UFC pound-for-pound rankings.
Now Muhammad will go up against a daunting challenge in the shape of the 29-year-old Rakhmonov, who is undefeated in his 18-fight career so far, including six wins in the UFC so far.
Along the way he’s beaten a string of established welterweight stars like Stephen Thompson, Geoff Neal and Neil Magny, and adding to his aura is the fact that he’s finished everyone he’s ever fought inside the distance, with 8 by T(KO) and 10 by submission.
Supporting Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov in the co-main event spot will be another title encounter as 34-year-old flyweight king Pantoja looks to make the third defense of his title.
A three-fight winning streak had earned Pantoja his shot at the belt in July of 2023 and he seized the opportunity by defeating Brandon Moreno by split-decision – marking the third time he’d beaten the 125lb star.
Pantoja followed that up by earning a unanimous decision victory over Brandon Royval (also the third time he’s beaten him), and he’s since gone on to beat Steve Erceg on the scorecards too.
Now Pantoja will go up against a fresh face to the UFC in the 30-year-old Asakura, who has been a big deal in Japan for many years, both as a star in the Rizin promotion and as a popular YouTube star too.
Asakura holds a 21-4 career record and has twice won Rizin’s bantamweight title, while he also fought his way the Rizin 135lb grand-prix final in 2021.
