UFC 310 Fight Card: PPV Schedule, Odds and Predictions for Pantoja vs. Asakura
December 7, 2024UFC 310 Fight Card: PPV Schedule, Odds and Predictions for Pantoja vs. Asakura
A UFC flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asukara and a welterweight title eliminator between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry will headline UFC 310 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The card is the final pay-per-view offering of the year from the promotion. Pantoja will be
Pantoja will be headlining his second pay-per-view as he builds his reputation as the most dominant man in the division. He's already racked up two successful title defenses against Brandon Royval and Steve Erceg.
Now, he has UFC newcomer Asukara in his sights.
It's not the only intriguing matchup on the card. They've put together a great matchup of rising contenders in Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry that should determine the next challenger for Belal Muhammad who was forced off the card with a bone infection in his foot.
Here's a look at the complete card along with a preview and predictions for the two main attractions.
UFC 310 Fight Card, Schedule and Odds
- (c) Alexandre Pantoja (-258) vs. Kai Asakura (+210) – for flyweight title
- Ian Machado Garry (+295) vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov (-375)
- Ciryl Gane (-380) vs. Alexander Volkov (+300)
- Kron Gracie (+625) vs. Bryce Mitchell (-950)
- Dooho Choi (+110) vs. Nate Landwehr (-130)
- Dominick Reyes (-380) vs. Anthony Smith (+300)
- Themba Gorimbo (-155) vs. Vicente Luque (+130)
- Movsar Evloev (-230) vs. Aljamain Sterling (+190)
- Bryan Battle (-180) vs. Randy Brown (+150)
- Eryk Anders (-108) vs. Chris Weidman (-112)
- Cody Durden (+142) vs. Joshua Van (-170)
- Michael Chiesa (-130) vs. Max Griffin (+110)
- Clay Guida (+700) vs. Chase Hooper (-1100)
- Lukasz Brzeski (+410) vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu (-550)
Tickets: Vivid Seats
Main Card (ESPN+ Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)
Prelims (ESPN2, 8 p.m. ET)
Early Prelims (ESPN+, 6 p.m. ET)
Odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook
Pantoja vs. Asakura
This probably isn't the main event the UFC pictured to close out the year, but it's an interesting one nonetheless.
Kai Asuraka is a relative unknown to those who don't follow Japanese MMA. The Rizin star has an opportunity to do something unprecedented by winning a UFC championship in his promotional debut.
It provides some new blood in a division that needed it. Asakura hasn't actually fought in the division since 2017 but became a multi-time bantamweight champion in Rizin. His run in the weight class has been impressive and includes a win over former UFC title challenger Kyoji Horiguchi.
Meanwhile, Pantoja has defended his title twice and still has plenty of challenges left in the division. He holds wins over Brandon Royval and Brandon Moreno, but the rest of the top five are contenders he hasn't beaten yet.
That being said, he's the considerable favorite here and has a few advantages that could be the deciding factor in the fight.
For one, Pantoja is one of the most well-rounded champs in the game right now. He can win a fight with his submission skills, strike from distance or survive a battle of attrition.
That last part could be the most important. The biggest thing that Asakura has going for him as the challenger is his power. Thirteen of his 21 wins have come by way of knockout or TKO and a lot of his career has been at 135.
Maybe that allows him to pull off the upset, but it's more likely that Pantoja just outclasses him for most of the fight.
Prediction: Pantoja via decision
Rakhmonov vs. Machado Garry
This one might be the main event of the people. With all due respect to the flyweight champion and his challenger, the welterweight co-main event pits two of the most interesting rising contenders against one another.
Rakhmonov is the favorite. That's not surprising as the 30-year-old was supposed to be fighting for the championship on Saturday night. He actually opened as a considerable favorite against the current champion when that bout was announced.
A lot of that can be chalked up to Rakhmonov's ability to clamp on to opponents and dominate the ground game. Unlike a lot of suffocating wrestlers, Rakhmonov is very comfortable boxing with opponents and using his striking game to close the distance before taking fighters down.
Whether that striking is good enough to hang with Machado Garry is one of the intriguing aspects of this fight.
The Irishmen has also built an undefeated record at 15-0 as he gets ready for the title eliminator. Rakhmonov built his record with functional striking and relentless takedowns paried with slick grappling.
Machado Garry has been much more reliant on his striking. He has proven himself to be an adept striker who can control the pace and distance of a fight well while building a lead on the scorecards with his technical striking.
Asking Machado Garry to keep this fight off the mat for even half the alotted time is a really difficult task. But if he lets Rakhmonov get him on the ground, it's going to be hard to climb out of that hole.