NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 06: Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman reacts after his unanimous decision… [+] Victory over Colby Covington in their fight for the UFC welterweight championship during the UFC 268 event at Madison Square Garden on November 06, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zova LLC)
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The former UFC welterweight champion had intended to step in for injured champion Belal Muhammad and face Shavkat Rakhmonov in the main event of UFC 310 on December 7, but that did not happen.
On the latest episode of his Pound for Pound podcast, Usman spoke with Henry Cejudo about the possibility of the Rakhmonov fight escalating. Usman said he believes the fight is “very winnable,” but feels December 7 may be too soon for him to return and take on this challenge.
Here’s a look at the episode; The events of the clip take place in the last two minutes of the video.
Usman, 37, has not fought since October 2023, when he stepped in on short notice and lost a majority decision to Khamzat Chimaev. He lost back-to-back fights against Leon Edwards before losing to Chimaev.
Since Usman knows that his next UFC outing will likely be his last, it makes sense for him to take his time to make sure he is at his best when he returns to the octagon. Rakhmonov is one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC. The 30-year-old Uzbekistan is 18-0 and has finished every opponent he has faced. Rakhmonov’s game is very good.
He has eight wins by TKO/KO and ten by submission. Usman will likely need a full camp to be at his best, and while it may be unfortunate for some fans to see the former champion remove himself from consideration, it would have been a wise thing to do. Meanwhile, Rakhmonov still needs an opponent and UFC 310 still needs a proper main event.
If the UFC can’t find a replacement for Muhammad and Rakhmonov falls from the card, a flyweight championship between Alexandre Pantoja and Japanese newcomer Kai Asakura will be the headliner.
The Pantoja-Asakura fight could be excellent, but the UFC hasn’t had the best PPV buy totals when flyweights headline the card. For this reason, it is reasonable to believe that they will continue to look for an opponent to replace Muhammad. At this point, the most logical competition for Rakhmonov would be Sean Brady or Jack Della Maddalena.
However, none of these names — especially those removed from the title — represent an opportunity to move the needle. We’ll have to wait and see what direction the UFC goes with its final PPV main event of 2024.
As it stands, here’s a look at the confirmed card for UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
(c) Alexander Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – UFC Men’s Flyweight Championship Shavkhat Rakhmonov vs. ??? – Welterweight Cyril Jean vs. Alexander Volkov – Heavyweight Movsar Ivlov vs. Aljamain Sterling – Featherweight Vicente Luque vs. Nick Diaz – Welterweight Anthony Smith vs. Dominick Reyes – Light heavyweight Clay Guida vs. Chase Huber – Lightweight Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin – Welterweight Cody Durden vs. Joshua Vann – Men’s Flyweight Talison Teixeira vs. Lukasz Brzeski – Heavyweight Randy Brown vs. Brian Battle – Welterweight Rizwan Konev vs. Martin Budai – Heavyweight Do Ho Choi vs. Nate Landwehr – Featherweight
