“Title run was nice while it lasted” – Dana White sends fans into frenzy with ‘boogeyman’ Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Belal Muhammad announcement

UFC CEO Dana White reveals full UFC 310 PPV card, announces Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov as top bill; fans react.

“Title run was nice while it lasted” – Dana White sends fans into frenzy with ‘boogeyman’ Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Belal Muhammad announcement

Dana White announces Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov as UFC 310 title headliner (Source: X/IMAGO)

The UFC is set to close out its 2024 pay-per-view schedule with a championship double-header. Subsequently, the final UFC 310 pay-per-view (PPV) event is to cap off with a welterweight banger! New and improved Belal Muhammad makes the first defense of his 170-pound strap. ‘Remember The Name’ will test his mettle against divisional boogeyman Shavkat Rakhmonov.

UFC CEO Dana White announced on Saturday that two title fights will take place at UFC 310 (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+). on December 14th at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The undefeated Kazakh phenom challenges the guard in the first one. Meanwhile, Kai Asakura (21-4) makes a titular debut against champ Alexandre Pantoja in the co-headliner. Asakura, 30, signed for UFC in June. He rose to prominence in Japan through Road FC and ultimately RIZIN.

It’s not every day a flyweight debutant starts a tenure with a title shot (Michael Chandler got one in his sophomore outing). Yet it’s the feature main event that has turned heads. Belal Muhammad, 35, claimed the 170-pound belt by outworking Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Ever since he has been on the rumor mill against ‘Nomad’. Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), 30, has been tearing through UFC competition with ease.

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Accordingly, the duo had been engaging in some banter for it. It was all fun and games when fighting Team Kill Cliff FC’s Shavkat Rakhmonov was just an idea. Though he hasn’t fought since his submission win over Stephen Thompson at UFC 296, last December, he is a reckoning! Touting a perfect record with a 100 percent finish rate, Rakhmonov is dangerous. A predominant finisher throughout, the match against the Kazakh has gone viral as such.

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Fight fans react to UFC 310 PPV main event

The welterweight pay-per-view title bout at UFC 310 is very intriguing. Few tipped Muhammad as a future champion. But ‘Remember The Name’ silenced the doubters with a massive previous winning streak and stint. Most recently, the Team Valle Flow Striking star showed massive improvements, combining wrestle attire and outboxing. As for Rakhmonov, he’s the most exciting 170lb prospect. Undefeated and with all of his victories coming via finish, ‘Nomad’ is an excellent foil for the champ.

Fans react to the UFC 310 main event
Fans react to the UFC 310 main event (Source: brobible.com/IMAGO)

Contrastingly, the UFC 310 PPV card has other exciting fights as well. Fan-fave veteran and former Strikeforce champ Nick Diaz finally got rebooked against Vicente Luque. The final numbered UFC event also gets to see Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov 2, which saw a shift from UFC 308. However, it is the dangerous notion of Belal Muhammad vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov that has caused a stir. Here are a few top reactions to it:

A prominent reaction (@RedWolfMMA) has mocked “Well .. Belal’s title run was nice while it lasted ?”. A lot of fans have additionally gone the “Laura Sanko thirsts Rakhmonov” quirky route with their threads of memes. However, the Palestinian champ isn’t without love from his fans as well.

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For one, many have lauded Muhammad for sticking to his resolve to be an active champ and defending his belt so soon. Others have also alluded that the fighter is usually a generic betting underdog in most of his outings. Per @BetOnline_ag, he opened up a +190 betting underdog against Rakhmonov even before the title shot. However, Muhammad keeps winning and might still. As such, this can be a matchup for ages and will remain a hot topic for a while.