Undefeated welterweights will battle it out for top contender position at UFC 310.
When welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was forced out of his title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on Dec. 7 due to a bone infection in his foot, Rakhmonov called for an interim title fight against Kamaru Usman.
Both Ian Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Joaquin Buckley, who were scheduled to face each other in the UFC on ESPN 63 headliner on Dec. 14, threw their name in the hat to face Rakhmonov.
The UFC opted to go with Machado Garry, who will meet Rakhmonov in a five-round non-title co-main event bout at UFC 310 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Dana White announced Friday. Buckley will now face Colby Covington.
Garry is coming off a unanimous decision win over Michael Page at UFC 303 in June. Meanwhile, Rakhmonov notched his sixth octagon victory when he became the first to submit Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 in December.
Rakhmonov expressed disappointment in the welterweight division, as a whole, on X after the fight was announced.
I’m very disappointed in our division. Belal, Leon, Colby, Kamaru, Jack, Sean – you’ve all let fans down. The only one who backed up his words is Ian, and I respect that. But make no mistake, @iangarryMMA – I’m coming for your 0 and will fight for the belt after https://t.co/eE3Ps8aCoj
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) November 16, 2024
The winner of the UFC 310 matchup is expected to challenge Muhammad for the belt upon his return to competition.
With the addition, the current UFC 310 lineup includes:
- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – for flyweight title
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
- Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
- Virna Jandiroba vs. TBA
- Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
- Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
- Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque
- Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
- Martin Buday vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Bryan Battle vs. Randy Brown
- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Doo Ho Choi vs. Nate Landwehr
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
