New date, same mission 😤@MovsarUFC
vs @FunkmasterMMA
has been rescheduled to take place at
#UFC310 👊 pic.twitter.com/aWYCPfPdt8— UFC (@ufc)
September 27, 2024
A potential title eliminator-turned-grudge match for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship will go on a few months later
than expected.
For the UFC 307 card in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5, the UFC had
matched Movsar
Evloev (18-0) against Aljamain
Sterling (24-4) together for a possible no. 1 contender contest
at 145 pounds. Sterling
suffered an injury in September that forced him out of the
contest, and the promotion opted not to slot in a late replacement.
Instead, about two months later, the two will collide. The UFC
released
the news on Friday that Evloev and Sterling will handle their
business at UFC 310,
which will go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec.
7.
In this rescheduled top-tier grappling-centric tilt, Evloev will
put his unbeaten record on the line, as he is currently tied among
all active fighters in major MMA organizations for the most
victories without a defeat. The Russian joined the UFC in 2019,
where he took home a pair of decisions over Seung Woo
Choi and Enrique
Barzola to get started. Since then, he has rattled off six more
victories in the Octagon, but all six have come at the hands of the
judges.
Former bantamweight kingpin Sterling relocated to the featherweight
division to clear the way for teammate Merab
Dvalishvili to pursue gold. “Funk Master” won the strap in 2021
from Petr
Yan when Yan disqualified himself for throwing an illegal knee.
Three defenses against Yan, T.J.
Dillashaw and Henry
Cejudo set the record for the most consecutive defenses of a
UFC bantamweight throne. Sterling surrendered his belt to Sean
O’Malley, prompting his shift to 145 pounds. His debut in the
weight class went swimmingly, as he handily outworked perennial
contender Calvin
Kattar to earn a spot among the rankings.
UFC 310 will take place on Dec. 7 at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
There is currently no headliner on the books, but a number of
matchups involving top-ranked fighters are registered on its
billing. A rescheduled heavyweight rematch between Ciryl Gane
and Alexander
Volkov will bolster the lineup, and other fights including a
possible title eliminator at 115 pounds between Tatiana
Suarez and Virna
Jandiroba as well as a banger between Nick Diaz and
Vicente
Luque at 170 pounds are also set.