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The last pay-per-view UFC event of 2024 is here. UFC 310 will round out a year that has had tons of stacked fight cards with yet another impressive-looking event. Although an injury to Belal Muhammad that forced him to pull out of his fight caused some shuffling of the fight card, there are still plenty of huge bouts scheduled for Dec. 7, and in this article, we are going to explain everything you need to know about them.
When and where is UFC 310?
The last UFC pay-per-view event of the year is on Saturday, Dec. 7. The fights will be in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada. The venue is T-Mobile Arena. The early prelims will kick off the night starting at 6 p.m. ET, while the prelims will take place at 8 p.m. ET. Finally, the main event will start at 10 p.m. ET.
How to watch UFC 310
Of course, the main event will be available exclusively via a pay-per-view purchase from ESPN+. You can catch the prelims before that for free on ESPN+ and ESPN2, though, and the early prelims will be on UFC Fight Pass. Jon Anik will be the play-by-play commentator, and he will be joined in the booth by Daniel Cormier and Joe Rogan. The reporter on duty will be Megan Olivi.
Date: Saturday, Dec. 7 | Time: 10 p.m. ET (main card)
Location: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, Nevada
How to watch: ESPN+ pay-per-view (main card)
FanDuel Odds: Alexandre Pantoja -280
UFC 310 fight card
Main card:
Flyweight: Alexandre Pantoja (C) vs. Kai Asakura, championship bout
Welterweight: Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry
Heavyweight: Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
Featherweight: Bryce Mitchell vs. Kron Gracie
Featherweight: Nate Landwehr vs. Dooho Choi
Prelims:
Light heavyweight: Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
Welterweight: Vicente Luque vs. Themba Gorimbo
Featherweight: Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
Welterweight: Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
Early prelims:
Catchweight: Chris Weidman vs. Eryk Anders
Flyweight: Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
Welterweight: Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
Lightweight: Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
Heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu vs. Lukasz Brzeski
Main event
After Belal Muhammad pulled out of UFC 310, Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja stepped up to fill the main event. The 125-pound champion is quickly making an impressive legacy for himself, as this will be his third title defense. In fact, The Cannibal has run through everyone at the top of his division. He is 9-0 against the current top-10 flyweights, which forced the UFC to go in a unique direction when choosing his UFC 310 opponent.
Pantoja is taking on Kai Asakura, who has zero UFC fights to his name. The Japanese fighter has looked like one of the best strikers in the world fighting in the Rizin Fighting Federation, and his entertaining style landed him a championship bout in his UFC debut match. Asakura has impressive knockout power for a 125-pounder, and he always puts on a show, but this is a big step up in competition.
Pantoja is also willing to stand up and bang, and his fights usually end up with both parties bloodied. The current champion is also an impressive wrestler, though. Asakura has shown impressive takedown defense outside of the UFC, but Pantoja is riding a six-fight winning streak and has looked like a dog over the last few years.
Main card
Besides Pantoja-Asakura being promoted to the main event, the other huge fight impacted by Belal Muhammad pulling out was the fight he was actually supposed to be in. He was supposed to put his welterweight title on the line against Shavkat Rakhmonov. While a championship bout for the 18-0 fighter was well-deserved, his new matchup is just as intriguing, if not more.
Now, Rakhmonov will face Ian Machado-Garry, a fellow undefeated fighter with a 15-0 record. That means both fighters will be putting their zeros on the line. Rakhmonov has finished all 18 of his opponents, which is a scary thought for all. He is an aggressive striker but also particularly thrives getting to a variety of chokes to submit his opponents. Machado Garry, meanwhile, is a patient striker who lands devastating punches when the timing is right to unload. He has also become one of the villains of the UFC because of his trash-talking nature, which adds more intrigue to this fight. While this isn't a championship matchup, it is one of the biggest non-title fights of the year.
A third fight with championship implications will take place on the main card, too. Ciryl Gane is ranked second in the heavyweight division, and he was the Interim Heavyweight Champion as recently as two fights ago. He only lost his belt to the greatest UFC fighter ever (Jon Jones), and now he is looking to re-emerge into the title picture against the number three-ranked heavyweight. That is Alexander Volkov, a 6-foot-7 monster who has collected some big-name wins during his recent four-fight winning streak. The two fought back in 2021, and Gane walked away victorious. That fight went to decision after five rounds despite both fighters having knockout power, though, so this fight could go either way.
Also on the main card is the polarizing Bryce Mitchell. An elite wrestler with a memorable personality, Mitchell took extended time off after a brutal knockout loss to the hard-hitting Josh Emmett. The shot to the head caused Mitchell to cease up while he laid unconscious on the canvas, but he has now rested for a full year, and he has an easier matchup against Kron Gracie. As a member of the Gracie family, Kron is certainly dangerous on the ground, though, so you can't count him out, especially if Mitchell doesn't look like the fighter he was before the brutal knockout.
The first fight on the main card is between Nate Landwehr and Dooho Choi. These featherweights care as much about putting on a show for the fans as they do winning, so this will surely be one of the most entertaining fights of the night. In fact, Choi is already in the UFC Hall of Fame Fight Wing because of his battle against Cub Swanson at UFC 206.
Prelims
While the main card is stacked with fun fights, there are some huge names in the prelims, too. Notably, Aljamain Sterling is somehow not fighting on the main card. His three title defenses are the most in bantamweight history, and he was the 135-pound champion as recently as UFC 292. Now, Sterling is fighting at featherweight, and his grappling will be put to the test at UFC 310.
Sterling is taking on Movsar Evloev, another fighter with an elite ground skill set, and another fighter who is undefeated. His 18-0 record is tied with Rakhmonov for the best record without a loss in the UFC. This fight was originally scheduled for UFC 307, so the additional time to train should mean that both fighters are locked in.
Dominick Reyes and Anthony Smith are also fighting in the prelims. Both fighters are known for somewhat controversial losses to Jon Jones. Reyes came the closest of anybody to beating the UFC G.O.A.T, and Smith could have taken the belt because of an illegal knee, but he chose to keep fighting and eventually lost. Unfortunately, both fighters are seemingly well past their primes. Reyes has lost three of his four fights since taking on Jones, and Smith could be headed towards retirement, considering he has lost four of his last six bouts.
Speaking of former high-profile fighters, Chris Weidman, who was a champion back from 2013 to 2015, is fighting at UFC 310 after being a late scratch from UFC 309. Weidman will take on Eryk Anders in the early prelims.
