UFC 310: Pantoja vs Asakura Recap (Sports)
December 7, 2024
UFC 310 took place earlier tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, headlined by flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja making his third title defense against former two-time RIZIN champion Kai Asakura, who was making his UFC debut. Asakura showed impressive speed during the first round, but Pantoja dominated in the second. After a scramble against the fence, Pantoja took Asakura’s back and secured a rear-naked choke at the 2:05 mark of the second round to claim his third successful defense of the UFC flyweight belt.
The co-main event was a five-round fight between two undefeated welterweight title prospects, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry, who entered the fight with a combined 33-0 record. Rakhmonov controlled Garry against the fence for most of the first two rounds and broke through with his chain wrestling in the fourth and fifth. Garry nearly pulled off an upset with a tight rear-naked choke attempt late in the fifth round, but Rakhmonov powered through and escaped. Rakhmonov won by unanimous decision and will next challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title.
ALEXANDRE PANTOJA SUBMITS KAI ASAKURA IN ROUND 2 💪 #UFC310 pic.twitter.com/JH5vQCW4Fs
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 8, 2024
UFC 310 Fight Card Results
- Alexandre Pantoja (c) def. Kai Asakura via second-round submission (rear naked choke)
- Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Ian Machado Garry via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
- Ciryl Gane def. Alexander Volkov via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Bryce Mitchell def. Kron Gracie via third-round TKO (elbows)
- Dooho Choi def. Nate Landwehr via third-round TKO (punches)
- Dominick Reyes def. Anthony Smith via second-round TKO (punches)
- Vicente Luque def. Themba Gorimbo via first-round submission (D’Arce choke)
- Movsar Evloev def. Aljamain Sterling via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Bryan Battle def. Randy Brown via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Eryk Anders def. Chris Weidman via second-round TKO (punches)
- Josh Van def. Cody Durden via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
- Michael Chiesa def. Max Griffin via third-round submission (rear naked choke)
- Chase Hooper def. Clay Guida via first-round submission (armbar)
- Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Lukasz Brzeski via first-round knockout (punches)