The title fights Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov, Pantoja vs. Asakura are coming up

The UFC will conclude its 2024 pay-per-view schedule with a championship doubleheader.

UFC CEO Dana White announced Saturday that there will be two title fights at UFC 310 on Dec. 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+).

In the main event, Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) will put his welterweight title on the line for the first time against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

And it's not often that a fighter makes his UFC debut in a title fight, but that's exactly what former RIZIN champion Kai Asakura (21-4 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will do when he takes on flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (28-5) challenges MMA, 12-3 UFC) in the co-headliner.

Muhammad, 35, captured the 170-pound belt in July with a unanimous decision win over Leon Edwards in their UFC 304 rematch. He is currently undefeated in twelve fights.

The 30-year-old Rakhmonov has fought his way through the competition in the octagon and has a perfect record with a target rate of 100 percent. However, he has not fought since December 2023, when he earned a submission victory over Stephen Thompson at UFC 296.

Asakura, 30, signed with the UFC in June. He became a star in Japan through Road FC and eventually joined RIZIN, where he competed from 2017 to 2023. Asakura secured promotion with a 13-3 victory by defeating notable players such as Kyoji Horiguchi and Juan Archuleta, both of whom he scored goals for.

Asakura has competed primarily at bantamweight throughout his career and will drop down a weight class for his UFC title fight.

Pantoja wants to successfully defend his title for the third time. Since a title challenge win over Brandon Moreno in July 2023, Pantoja has won back-to-back defenses against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg by unanimous decision. He is on a six-fight winning streak coming into this match.

The latest UFC 310 lineup now includes:

• Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov – for the welterweight title
• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – for the flyweight title
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque
• Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
• Virna Jandiroba vs Tatiana Suarez
• Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
• Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
• Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van

For more information on the card, check out MMA Junkie's UFC 310 event hub.