The UFC returns to Las Vegas this weekend with the UFC 310 pay-per-view event taking place at the T-Mobile Arena. The card features a flyweight title headliner as current champion Alexandre Pantoja looks for his second title defense when he faces the debuting former RIZIN star Kai Asakura. The co-main event, meanwhile, is a massive number one contender fight between undefeated stars Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry.Let’s take a look at all of the action.
UFC 310 Prelim Card
You won’t find a more stacked prelim card with former champs, well-known veterans, and up-and-comers. To start off the night, Kennedy Nzechukwu takes on Lukasz Brzeski in a heavyweight collision. The Nigerian is a heavy favorite and should earn a knockout victory over the Polish fighter.
Michael Chiesa returns to action when he faces Max Griffin in a welterweight contest. Maverick has not had much success since moving up to the weight class. This is a close encounter, but Griffin is just about favored to emerge victorious.
Lightweight veteran Clay Guida takes on rising star Chase Hooper. Hooper is the biggest favorite on the night, but don’t totally count out the Carpenter that could be a play if you want a big underdog.
Cody Durden takes on Joshua Van in a flyweight tilt. Van should get the win in this 125-pound matchup and make his way into the top 15 rankings.
Former middleweight champion Chris Weidman takes on Eryk Anders. It’s amazing that the All American has come back from his brutal leg injury. This was supposed to go down last month, but Ya Boi got food poisoning right before the fight. This is a pick-em.
Randy Brown takes on Bryan Battle in a welterweight matchup. In what should be a pure striking affair, Battle is expected to get yet another victory.
I’m not sure why this matchup is on the prelims, but #5 ranked MovsarEvloev takes on former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in a pivotal featherweight clash. Despite Sterling’s wrestling ability, oddsmakers have confidence in Evloev’sgrappling being superior which should help him get the win.
Vicente Luque takes on Themba Gorimbo in a welterweight clash. Although he’s stepping in on short notice to replace Nick Diaz, the streaking Zimbabwe fightr is favored to come out on top.
The featured prelim sees Dominick Reyes battle Anthony Smith in a light heavyweight affair. Having recently returned to winning ways, Reyes is a solid favorite to get another win under his belt in a battle of two former title contenders.
UFC 310 Main Card
Landwehr (18-5) vs Choi (15-4-1)
The main card opens up with a bang as the always-entertaining Nate Landwehr takes on Doo-Ho Choi in a featherweight clash. Landwehr most recently knocked out JamallEmmers in March as he returned to the win column following a unanimous decision defeat to Dan Ige last year. Prior to that, the American was on a three-fight winning streak. Overall, Landwehr is 5-3 in the UFC.
Choi, meanwhile, earned his first win since 2016 when he TKO'd Bill Algeo in July earlier this year. Prior to that, he was on a three-fight losing streak before fighting to a draw against Kyle Nelson last year. Overall, “The Korean Superboy” is 3-3-1 in the UFC and will be looking to embark on his first winning streak since July 2016. This should be a competitive battle on the feet, but Landwehr is favored to come out on top.
Mitchell (16-3) vs Gracie (5-2)
A unique featherweight matchup is also on the cards as Bryce Mitchell returns to action against Kron Gracie –yes, a real Grazie is back in the Octagon. Mitchell hasn't competed since a devastating knockout defeat to Josh Emmett back in December. Prior to that, he returned to winning ways by outpointing Dan Ige following a first career defeat at the hands of Ilia Topuria. Overall, the Arkansas native is 6-2 in the UFC with notable wins over Edson Barboza and Andre Fili.
Gracie, meanwhile, hasn’t competed since a drab unanimous decision defeat to Charles Jourdain in May last year. It was his first fight since his first career defeat to Cub Swanson back in October 2019. Overall, he is 1-2 in the UFC and while this should be an interesting matchup given both fighters excel when it comes to grappling and jiu-jitsu, Mitchell remains a massive favorite and should emerge victorious if he can keep this on the feet.
Gane (12-2) vs Volkov (38-10)
CirylGane clashes with Alexander Volkov in a pivotal heavyweight encounter. It will notably be a rematch of their 2021 meeting which saw Gane comfortably outpoint Volkov over five rounds. Gane has since become the interim heavyweight champion only to suffer losses in undisputed title fights to Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones -- his only career defeats thus far. He did rebound with a TKO win over Sergey Spivac and will be hoping another big win puts him right back into the title picture.
Volkov is also looking for a big win. After his defeat to Gane, he would defeat Marcin Tybura before getting submitted by current interim champion Tom Aspinall. However, he has since amassed a four-fight winning streak that includes wins over JairzinhoRozenstruik and Sergei Pavlovich. A win over the Frenchman would not only berevenge, but could put him as close as ever to title contention. That said, age is not on his side and having already lost to the younger Gane before and not being a predominant wrestler, but I would consider the Russian a live dog at these long odds.
Rakhmonov (18-0) vs Garry (15-0)
The co-main event sees unbeaten welterweight stars Shavkat Rakhmanov and Ian Machado Garry battle for a shot at the 170-pound title. Rakhmonov had already earned the shot and was set to face current champion Belal Muhammad on this card, but injury ruled out the latter. The Kazakhstan fighter will now look to further cement his title shot with a win over one of the hottest stars in the division in Garry.
Rakhmonovis unbeaten with a 18-0 record, but more impressively, he has a 100% finish rate. He is 6-0 in the UFC with finishes over the likes of Neil Magny, Geoff Neal and Stephen Thompson. Garry, meanwhile, is 15-0, although he has eight finishes. However, he boasts similar wins over Geoff Neal and Neil Magny while he has also defeated Michael Page and Daniel Rodriguez.
This should be a striking contest, but if the need is there, Rakhmonov always has his wrestling to rely on. Given his experience and finish rate, the Kazakh is a big favorite and favored to remove the 0 from Garry’s record.The final twist is that these are former sparing partners, and the Irish fighter feels confident. I like another play on an underdog, and give Garry a good chance at getting a decision victory.
Pantoja (28-5) vs Asakura (21-4)
The headliner sees flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja defend his 125-pound crown against Kai Asakura. Pantoja recently earned the first defense of his title with a contested decision victory against Steve Erceg. Overall, the champion is on a six-fight winning streak that includes wins over Manel Kape, Brandon Royval, Brandon Moreno and Alex Perez.
His next opponent is Asakura, who will be earning a rare title shot in his UFC debut. A former RIZIN bantamweight champion, the Japanese fighter notably holds knockout wins over Juan Archuleta and former UFC title challenger KyojiHoriguchi while he has also bested current UFC flyweight Manel Kape in Rizin. The debuting Octagon fighter has also won seven of his last nine fights and is 21-4 overall.
Although he is a striker and comes with a certain level of the unknown, oddsmakers still believe Pantoja has the abilityto contain him and come out with his second title defense. Enjoy the card!
