UFC 310 went down last night (Sat., Dec. 7, 2024) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada Alexandre Pantoja Loss Kai Asakura about submission in the second round (see again here). In the co-main event Shawkat Rakhmonov defeated Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision (summary here), while Ciryl Gane won an extremely controversial split decision Alexander Volkov in heavyweight.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Biggest winner: Alexandre Pantoja

Pantoja secured his third consecutive title defense by putting on a brilliant performance until the end against newcomer and former RIZIN bantamweight champion Kai Asakura, submitting him via rear-naked choke in the second round. That’s now seven wins in a row for the Brazilian champions, who are quickly running out of competitors, which is why they called out the former division king: Demetrious Johnson. Still, Pantoja’s star continues to brighten after every fight, especially after knocking out a man who many thought would immediately step in and wow UFC fans. If he runs out of fresh faces to defeat, he may have to think about moving up a weight class to be challenged.

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Second: Shavkat Rakhmonov

Although a title fight is coming Belal MuhammadRakhmonov decided he didn’t want to wait for “Remember The Name” to get healthy to get a paycheck and opted for a fight against the always dangerous Ian Garry, who entered the event 15-0. And while it wasn’t exactly the outright dominance we saw from Rakhmonov, he did enough to get the nod on all scorecards. In doing so, he improves his Mint record to 19-0, 7-0 UFC and stays in contention for the championship. In the process, his stock rises because he took a risk to prove that he would fight anyone, anywhere, and emerged victorious in the end.

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

Biggest losers: Chris Weidman and Lukasz Brzeski

Weidman suffered another disappointing defeat, this time he was beaten Eryk Anders on the submap. The former middleweight world champion was visibly tired as the fight progressed and simply didn’t have much to offer “Ya Boi.” With the loss, “All American” drops to 1-3 in his last four fights and 3-7 in his last 10. That’s a big drop for the former champion, who could be close to retirement after his recent setback. As for Brzeski, he was the fighter we felt most needed a win heading into the event, having only gone 1-3 in his first four attempts in the Octagon. In the end, Kennedy Nzechukwu sent him home with his second straight defeat via a devastating knockout. With a record of 1-5 under the UFC banner, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him get his run in the near future.

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