Bone infection ruins UFC 310 main event as Belal Muhammad gives update from hospital bed

Belal Muhammad breaks his veil on nasty foot injury that forced UFC 310 pay-per-view (PPV) withdrawal against Shavkat Rakhmonov.


Bone infection ruins UFC 310 main event as Belal Muhammad gives update from hospital bed

Belal Muhammad breaks silence on UFC 310 withdrawal against Shavkat Rakhmonov (Source: X)

UFC 310 suffered a major blow as welterweight champion Belal Muhammad pulled out of his title fight on 7 December. He was to square off against boogeyman Shavkat Rakhmonov. MMA insider Al Zullino and Benny P (@Bendaman2001, of Australia) first reported the rumor. Now, the Palestinian champ has given some insight into it.

He announced the news on Thursday by posting a video of himself in a hospital bed on Instagram. In the video, which included photos, Muhammad said he had “contracted a bone infection” in his foot. The Team Valle Flow Striking fighter won’t be able to do any physical activity for the next six weeks. He reiterated the matter on socials (IG and X):

Caught a bone infection in my foot .. had to put a picc line in my arm for iv antibiotics the next 6 weeks with no physical activity … Allahs plan is the best plan I’m sorry to everyone that were coming to see me Ill be back soon inshAllah

Belal Muhammad via X (@bullyb170)
YouTube video

UFC 310 takes shape on December 14 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Now that the Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) vs. Rakhmonov pay-per-view title doubleheader is moot, the brass is flurrying in for replacements. After initial rumors of the pullout, 205-pound champ Alex Pereira was a top name under consideration. However, Team Teixeira MMA & Fitness and Plinio Cruz have said they haven’t gotten any calls yet.

Muhammad had hoped for a quick turnaround following his stunning victory over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in July. Meanwhile, unbeaten and with a 100 percent finish rate, ‘Nomad’ was to be his perfect challenge. It is unclear whether or not Rakhmonov will be staying on the card. However, the top contender posted on X that he’s open to fighting anyone for an interim title.

Shavkat Rakhmonov responds to Belal Muhammad pulling out

UFC 310 will take place on December 7th in Las Vegas. The event was to mark the first defense of the title for Belal Muhammad after an impressive showing in July. It would have been the first UFC championship fight for Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), who is undefeated in the UFC and riding a five-fight winning streak. Shavkat Rakhmonov hasn’t competed since December 2023, scoring a submission victory against Stephen Thompson at UFC 296.

Shavkat Rakhmonov responds to Belal Muhammad pulling from final UFC pay-per-view of the year
Shavkat Rakhmonov responds to Belal Muhammad pulling from final UFC pay-per-view of the year (Source: X/the-sun.ie)

There hasn’t been an official word on whether the Kazakh phenom will remain on the card or if the bout will happen at a later date. For now, though, Rakhmonov has some idea about it.

Wishing Belal a quick recovery. We’ll meet when you’re back at 100%. For now, I’m ready to take on any contender for the interim title at #UFC310

Shavkat Rakhmonov via X (@Rakhmonov1994)

While “Nomad” Rakhmonov was getting his groove on with banters as a title challenger, he wished his best to Muhammad. Now, competition is presenting itself out of the woodwork. According to Rueben Carter (@realruebenking), feature MMA reporter for @cbsnews, @yahoosports, et al., Kamaru Usman is a shoo-in for an interim title.

Undefeated 170-pound standout Ian Machado Garry, in the 8-0 club also reposted his callout to the Kazakh. There are a few other names in the ring as well.

Meanwhile, with the current change, the UFC 310 pay-per-view (PPV) lineup now includes:

Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – for the flyweight title
Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov, shifting from UFC 308
Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling, in a rebooking of its own
Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
Virna Jandiroba vs. TBA
Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque, also a rebooking of its own
Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
Martin Buday vs. Rizvan Kuniev
Bryan Battle vs. Randy Brown
Lukasz Brzeski vs. Tallison Teixeira