Two title fights will get top billing at UFC 310
on Dec. 7.
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UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday that a welterweight title
tilt between Belal
Muhammad and Shavkat
Rakhmonov will serve as the evening’s main event,
whileAlexandre Pantoja will defend his flyweight crown against
Kai
Asakura in the co-headliner. UFC 310 takes place at the
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and marks the promotion’s final
pay-per-view offering of 2024.
White also confirmed that a welterweight clash pitting Nick Diaz
against Vicente
Luque and a heavyweight showdown between Ciryl Gane
and Alexander
Volkov have been rebooked for the event.
Muhammad is unbeaten in his last 11 Octagon appearances dating back
to April 13, 2019. He claimed 170-pound gold with a unanimous
decision triumph against Leon
Edwards at UFC 304 on July 27. “Remember the Name” also owns
notable wins over the likes of Gilbert
Burns, Sean Brady,
Luque, Stephen
Thompson and Demian Maia,
to name a few.
Rakhmonov, meanwhile, has yet to taste defeat in 18 professional
outings. The 29-year-old Kazkhstan native has kicked off his
promotional tenure with six straight triumphs and is coming off a
second-round submission of Thompson at UFC 296 last December.
Pantoja has defended the flyweight strap twice since claiming the
belt with a split-decision triumph over Brandon
Moreno at UFC 290. The Brazilian known as “The Cannibal”
outpointed Brandon
Royval at UFC 296 in his first 125-pound title defense before
taking a five-round verdict against Steve Erceg
at UFC 301 on May 4. The 34-year-old American Top Team
representative has won six straight UFC appearances overall.
Asakura will get a title shot in his promotional debut after making
his name under the
Rizin Fighting Federation banner. The Japan Top Team product
has gone 13-3 under the Rizin banner since 2017, earning wins over
the likes of Manel Kape,
Kyoji
Horiguchi, and Juan
Archuleta, among others.