Dana White took to social media today to announce UFC 310 which will be the final PPV of 2024. The card goes down on December 7th from Las Vegas. The main event is a welterweight title fight between Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov. The co-main event will feature a flyweight title fight with the challenger making his octagon debut.
White announced that UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (28-5) will defend his flyweight title against promotional newcomer Kai Asakura (21-4). Pantoja will be looking to defend his flyweight title for the third time.
In July 2023, Pantoja took on Brandon Moreno for the flyweight title. It was a closely contested bout, but Pantoja was able to win a split decision to capture the flyweight title. In his first title defense, he dominated Brandon Royval back in December.
Earlier this year, he defended his title in Brazil against Steve Erceg. It was not an easy title defense and it came down to the final round. Pantoja used his grappling to secure the close decision win and retain his UFC flyweight title.
UFC 310
There was a lot of hype surrounding Kai Asakura when it was announced that the UFC signed him a few months back. The former RIZIN champion was coming off a massive win over Juan Archuleta to become the bantamweight champion back in December. Asakura finished Archuleta after a nasty knee to the body.
While Asakura fought at 135 pounds, the UFC brought him in to be a top flyweight contender. That said, I didn’t think he’d jump right into title contention let alone a title shot, but here we are. This becomes even more interesting if you consider tonight’s main event featuring Brandon Royval and Tatsuro Taira.
Should Asakura and Taira win their fights, the UFC could be looking at a historic next title fight featuring two Japanese fighters.