6 Fights We Need to See After UFC 310

UFC 310, the promotion's final pay-per-view of an exceptional 2024, went down on Saturday night in Las Vegas and set the stage for some huge fights in the new year.

The fight most fans are looking forward to seeing welterweight champion Belal Muhammad against Shavkat Rakhmonov. They were originally set to meet in the UFC 310 main event, but the fight fell through when the champion suffered an infection in his toe.

Rakhmonov then accepted a short-notice co-main event clash with Ian Machado Garry, who he defeated by decision to cement himself as the next man in line for Muhammad.

With Rakhmonov meeting Garry in the UFC 310 co-main event, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja and challenger Kai Asakura were elevated to the headlining spot.

Despite Asakura's accolades as a former RIZIN champ, Pantoja made it look easy, choking his rival out in the second round. It remains to be seen who he'll fight next, but he is fast establishing himself as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport right now.

Outside the top two bouts, the biggest winners of the card were Bryce Mitchell, Doo Ho Choi and Dominick Reyes, who impressed with wins over Kron Gracie, Nate Landwehr and Anthony Smith, respectively.

Former interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane also won on Saturday night, but his decision win over Alexander Volkov was the subject of immediate controversy.

Here are the fights we'd like to see next for the stars of UFC 310 as we head into 2025.

It's time to put some respect on Alexandre Pantoja's name.

After his submission win over Kai Asakura in the UFC 310 main event, he's now defended the flyweight belt three times, and he is clearly one of the best fighters in the sport.

Unfortunately, he's short on viable opponents at the moment.

In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, he called for a clash with former UFC and ONE flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, who recently retired with a bulletproof reputation as one of the greatest ever. That would be a huge contest, but Johnson was quick to rule it out.

That means Pantoja will most likely have to defend his belt against a familiar face next — most likely Brandon Royval or Brandon Moreno, both of whom he's beaten twice already.

Of the two, Royval seems the more likely choice, as he recently beat Moreno and followed that up with a big win over Tatsuro Taira. It's not a perfect fight, but it will have to do while fresh prospects such as UFC 310 undercard winner Joshua Van develop into serious contenders.

As we've covered, Shavkat Rakhmonov is clearly the next man in line for welterweight champ Belal Muhammad. That was true before he beat Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310, and it's even truer after their fight.

The only question is when the contest actually happens.

From the looks of it, we won't have to wait too long after Muhammad was recently cleared to return to training. That should mean he's ready to defend his belt against Rakhmonov sometime in the spring.

Whenever it happens, it will be a massive fight, and and one that looks quite winnable for Rakhmonov, who is still undefeated at 19-0, even if his 100 per cent finishing rate fell apart with his decision win over Garry.

Ian Machado Garry may have suffered his first career loss in his UFC 310 fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov, but there's no question his stock went up in defeat.

The Irishman performed remarkably well against a fighter nobody had been able to touch thus far and nearly finished the Kazakh juggernaut in the final round.

There's no question Garry is one of the best welterweights in the world right now, which means he should get another big name in his next fight.

Our pick is former champion Leon Edwards.

The Englishman, 33, hasn't fought since he lost the belt to Belal Muhammad earlier this year, but he revealed recently he will headline the UFC's return to London in March.

A fight with Garry would make all the sense in the world, and it would also attract lots of Irish fans to the O2 Arena.

Ciryl Gane may have walked away with a second victory over Alexander Volkov at UFC 310, but unlike his first decision win over the Russian, this one was extremely dubious.

In fact, nearly everybody seemed to score the fight the other way around, including Dana White. In other words, it did almost nothing to elevate the Frenchman's stock.

Then again, it's not like it matters much right now.

The UFC heavyweight division is in disarray thanks to the promotion's bizarre determination to have undisputed champ Jon Jones defend his belt against a 42-year-old Stipe Miocic rather than interim titleholder Tom Aspinall.

Now that Jones has taken care of Miocic, there can be no other title fight than Jones vs. Aspinall. That leaves Gane, who is the top contender in the division outside the two champs, with no choice to fight again before competing for the title. And there's no better choice for him than a third fight with Volkov.

The Russian is the next-highest ranked heavyweight behind the Frenchman, and after the questionable outcome of their UFC 310 fight, it only makes sense to have them run it back while we wait for Jones and Aspinall to unify their titles.

Doo Ho Choi has never looked better than he did in his UFC 310 main card win over Nate Landwehr.

The South Korean's boxing and leg kicks were impeccable, and he also showed off a levelled-up grappling game, taking his foe down four times before finishing him with punches from the crucifix position.

After the win, which follows a stoppage defeat of Bill Algeo, Choi is ready for another step up. In fact, it's probably time to give him a shot at someone in the featherweight top 15.

A scrap with fellow striker Edson Barboza, who is ranked No. 15 in the division, would be great. However, Choi suggested an idea that's arguably even better: a fight with the the No. 13-ranked Bryce Mitchell.

As we've covered, Mitchell was also in action at UFC 310, knocking out an outmatched Kron Gracie to rebound from a brutal knockout loss to Josh Emmett.

After the card, he and Choi are both on the same competition schedule and right near one another on the featherweight ladder, so there's no reason not to give the South Korean the fight he wants.

It would make a great addition to any pay-per-view main card, and it could easily co-headline a Fight Night event.

After giving Jon Jones arguably the toughest challenge of his career—and beating the MMA legend in the eyes of many viewers—Dominick Reyes suffered three straight knockout losses.

That skid gave the impression he may have just been a flash in a pan, but he has since bounced back with two straight stoppage wins.

First, he knocked out Dustin Jacoby in June. Then, on the UFC 310 undercard, he stopped a fellow former title challenger in Anthony Smith.

While it's still to early to talk about Reyes contending for the title again, he is rebuilding himself and is clearly ready for another step up. The best option for him from here seems to be Volkan Oezdemir.

The Swiss fighter, who has also challenged for light heavyweight gold, has been hot and cold of late, most recently suffering a decision loss to Carlos Ulberg.

He and Reyes also have some history. They first met in the Octagon in 2019, when Reyes won a split decision that many viewers scored the other way around.

There have been grounds for a sequel ever since, and with Reyes now on his way back up and Oezdemir struggling to stay relevant, the timing seems perfect.