UFC 310 LIVE: Ian Machado Garry fights Shavkat Rakhmonov in crucial clash – latest updates and results

UFC 310 culminates in two huge fights tonight, as Shavkat Rakhmonov faces Ian Machado Garry before Alexandre Pantoja defends his flyweight belt against Kai Asakura.

Rakhmonov was due to challenge welterweight champion Belal Muhammad here, but the latter withdrew due to a bone infection, leading Machado Garry to step in. The unbeaten Irishman faces the unbeaten Kazakh – one of his former training partners – in a highly-anticipated bout, which will establish a No 1 contender at 170lb.

Then, the UFC 310 main event pits Pantoja against Asakura, who is challenging for gold in his promotional debut. Asakura previously reigned as Rizin’s bantamweight champion, and that pedigree sees him hit the ground running in the UFC.

Elsewhere on the card, former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane faces Alexander Volkov in a rematch, while Aljamain Sterling and Chris Weidman are the other ex-title holders to feature in Las Vegas.

Follow live updates and results from the UFC 310 main card and prelims, below.

UFC 310 LIVE

• Main event: Alexandre Pantoja defends his flyweight title versus Kai Asakura

• Asakura, a former Rizin bantamweight champion, fights for gold in his UFC debut

• Pantoja given fresh challenge after beating top contenders Moreno and Royval multiple times

• Co-main event: Shavkat Rakhmonov faces Ian Machado Garry to decide No 1 contender at welterweight

• Machado Garry replaces champion Belal Muhammad, whose bone infection ruled him out of title defence versus Rakhmonov

• Rakhmonov and Machado Garry, both unbeaten, are former training partners

• Rakhmonov (18-0, 18 stoppages) submitted Machado Garry (15-0, 8 stoppages) in past sparring rounds

UFC 310 LIVE: Randy Brown vs Bryan Battle

01:19 , Alex Pattle

Round one

Brown with some fairly sharp punching early, with Battle happy to cover up and slowly edge forward. Battle eventually shoots for a takedown against the fence, but he’s denied.

Now Battle starts to open up more. He’s throwing a fair few front kicks to the body. Still, Brown is a step ahead, and Battle opts to grapple again.

He gets a body lock and drives Brown to the fence, where Brown gets an overhook and is eventually able to throw Battle!

A scramble ensues, and we’re quickly back to a striking exchange. Late in the round, Battle is again denied a takedown against the fence, and Brown secures a trip!

He gets into crucifix position and fires off a few elbows before the buzzer sounds. Solid first round for Brown.

UFC 310 LIVE: Randy Brown vs Bryan Battle

01:08 , Alex Pattle

The first regular prelim of the night is upon us.

Randy Brown faces Bryan Battle at welterweight, although Battle came in 4lb overweight yesterday.

UFC 310 LIVE: Conor McGregor ordered to pay Nikita Hand’s costs in civil rape case

01:03 , Alex Pattle

Some more serious news now.

Nikita Hand has been awarded costs in her civil action against Conor McGregor, after a jury found she had been raped by the mixed martial arts fighter in Dublin six years ago.

A judge in the High Court also ruled that James Lawrence, from whom she also sought damages for assault, but lost, cannot claim his legal costs against her.

Ms Hand, who accused the sportsman of raping her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, won her claim against him for damages in a case last month. The costs of the case, which ran for some three weeks, are estimated to be more than €1m (£829,000).

The ruling means that Ms Hand and Mr Lawrence will pay their own costs in relation to the claim against him. Mr McGregor, however, will have to pay the full costs relating to his side of the case, which will include Ms Hand’s costs relating to the claim against him.

The judge’s ruling on Thursday means that Ms Hand will pay the bill relating to costs in dealing with her claim against Mr Lawrence only.

More here:

Conor McGregor ordered to pay Nikita Hand’s costs in civil rape case

UFC 310 LIVE: Eryk Anders def. Chris Weidman

00:54 , Alex Pattle

Eryk Anders gets a big win over Chris Weidman, stopping the former middleweight champion in round two!

Anders seals the TKO with a prolonged barrage of hammer fists, punches and elbows. There were just nine seconds left in the round.

The fight took place at a 195lb catchweight, three weeks after their middleweight bout fell through due to Anders being ill.

UFC 310 LIVE: Dvalishvili marched into head office demanding Nurmagomedov fight

00:45 , Alex Pattle

And here’s more on the afore-mentioned co-main event of UFC 311, which pits Merab Dvalishvili against Umar Nurmagomedov.

Dvalishvili was sick of being accused of ‘ducking’ Nurmagomedov, it seems…

And so he did this:

‘Disrespected’ champion marched into UFC office demanding fight

UFC 310 LIVE: Joshua Van def. Cody Durden

00:42 , Alex Pattle

For the first time tonight, the judges are needed.

Joshua Van beats Cody Curden via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27), courtesy of a striking clinic.

UFC 310 LIVE: Makhachev vs Tsarukyan 2 official as UFC 311 main event

00:20 , Alex Pattle

In some major news this week, Islam Makhachev vs Arman Tsarukyan 2 was confirmed as the main event of UFC 311.

Five years after Makhachev outpointed Tsarukyan in a close bout, the pair will square off again – with Makhachev’s lightweight title on the line.

Also at the first UFC pay-per-view of 2025, Merab Dvalishvili defends his bantamweight title against Umar Nurmagomedov.

That means Umar’s cousin, UFC great Khabib, will be busy on 18 January: coaching Umar and Makhachev (Khabib’s childhood friend) in back-to-back fights.

More here:

UFC 311 main event finally confirmed – with bonus title fight added

UFC 310 LIVE: Michael Chiesa def. Max Griffin

00:06 , Alex Pattle

A second straight submission on the early prelims, and a third straight finish!

Michael Chiesa beats Max Griffin with a rear naked choke in the third round.

UFC 310 LIVE: Ian Machado Garry ‘will get finished’ if he can’t avoid this weapon

Saturday 7 December 2024 23:47 , Alex Pattle

Former UFC champion Michael Bisping has issued a stark warning to Ian Machado Garry ahead of tonight’s co-main event…

Ian Garry ‘will get finished’ by Shavkat Rakhmonov if he can’t avoid key weapon

UFC 310 LIVE: Chase Hooper def. Clay Guida

Saturday 7 December 2024 23:40 , Alex Pattle

Another one down, and it’s another first-round finish!

This one is a submission, as the young Chase Hooper defeats veteran Clay Guida via armbar, with 3:41 gone.

UFC 310: Shavkat Rakhmonov submitted Ian Machado Garry in sparring rounds

Saturday 7 December 2024 23:30 , Alex Pattle

A key narrative heading into UFC 310 has been Rakhmonov and Machado Garry’s past as sparring partners.

Rakhmonov claimed this week that he submitted the Irishman back in the day, and Machado Garry admitted as much later in the week.

More here:

Shavkat Rakhmonov clears up Ian Garry sparring rumours with blunt claim

UFC 310 LIVE: Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Lukasz Brzeski

Saturday 7 December 2024 23:14 , Alex Pattle

The first fight of the night is already in the books!

Kennedy Nzechukwu secures a TKO win against Lukasz Brzeski, stopping him with nine seconds left in the first round!

UFC 310 LIVE: Alexandra Pantoja a top-10 P4P fighter?

Saturday 7 December 2024 22:45 , Alex Pattle

Okay, okay… so. Alexandra Pantoja is not in The Independent’s pound-for-pound UFC top 10.

However, the more I think about his resume, the more I regret not including him up to this point.

During and before his run as UFC flyweight champion, he’s notched three wins over ex-title holder Brandon Moreno, and two over No 1-ranked Brandon Royval.

In fact, the Brazilian is 9-0 against the division’s current top 10 (he’s not included in that 10, as champion). The only one he hasn’t beaten is the only one he hasn’t fought: Amir Albazi, who lost to Moreno recently.

Furthermore, the 33-year-old is always in exciting fights.

If he beats Kai Asakura tonight, Pantoja will enter our list. That’s a promise.

The Independent’s pound-for-pound UFC rankings

UFC 310 LIVE: Odds

Saturday 7 December 2024 22:30 , Alex Pattle

Pantoja – 2/5; Asakura – 2/1

Rakhmonov – 2/7; Machado Garry – 12/5

Via Betway. Get all the latest UFC betting sites’ offers. The Independent vets betting sites for useability, security and responsible gambling tools. You can claim free bets here to use across a range of sports. Please read the terms.

UFC 310: All fights – main card and prelims

Saturday 7 December 2024 22:15 , Alex Pattle

Subject to very late changes…

Main card

Alexandre Pantoja (C) vs Kai Asakura (men’s flyweight title)

Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Ian Machado Garry (welterweight, five rounds)

Ciryl Gane vs Alexander Volkov 2 (heavyweight)

Bryce Mitchell vs Kron Gracie (featherweight)

Nate Landwehr vs Dooho Choi (featherweight)

Prelims

Dominick Reyes vs Anthony Smith (light-heavyweight)

Vicente Luque vs Themba Gorimbo (welterweight)

Movsar Evloev vs Aljamain Sterling (featherweight)

Randy Brown vs Bryan Battle (welterweight)

Early prelims

Chris Weidman vs Eryk Anders (catchweight, 195lb)

Cody Durden vs Joshua Van (flyweight)

Michael Chiesa vs Max Griffin (welterweight)

Clay Guida vs Chase Hooper (lightweight)

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Lukasz Brzeski (heavyweight)

UFC 310 card in full as Kai Asakura fights Alexandre Pantoja

UFC 310 LIVE: How to watch fights tonight

Saturday 7 December 2024 22:00 , Alex Pattle

The card will air live on TNT Sports in the UK, with the broadcaster’s app and website also streaming the fights. Discovery+ will also air the action in the UK. In the US, ESPN+ will stream the event live, as will the UFC’s Fight Pass.

If you want to stream major sporting events while you are travelling or watching from abroad you’ll need a VPN. Get the best VPN deals in the UK. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

How to watch UFC 310 online and on TV

UFC 310: When do fights start in UK and US?

Saturday 7 December 2024 21:45 , Alex Pattle

UFC 310 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tonight.

The early prelims are due to begin at 11pm GMT (3pm PT, 5pm CT, 6pm ET), with the regular prelims following at 1am GMT on Sunday (5pm PT, 7pm CT, 8pm ET on Saturday).

The main card is then set for 3am GMT on Sunday (7pm PT, 9pm CT, 10pm ET on Saturday).

What time does UFC 310 start in UK and US?

UFC 310 LIVE: Welcome!

Saturday 7 December 2024 21:29 , Alex Pattle

UFC 310 culminates in two huge fights tonight, as Shavkat Rakhmonov faces Ian Machado Garry before Alexandre Pantoja defends his flyweight belt against Kai Asakura.

Rakhmonov was due to challenge welterweight champion Belal Muhammad here, but the latter withdrew due to a bone infection, leading Machado Garry to step in. The unbeaten Irishman faces the unbeaten Kazakh – one of his former training partners – in a highly-anticipated bout, which will establish a No 1 contender at 170lb.

Then, the UFC 310 main event pits Pantoja against Asakura, who is challenging for gold in his promotional debut. Asakura previously reigned as Rizin’s bantamweight champion, and that pedigree sees him hit the ground running in the UFC.

Elsewhere on the card, former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane faces Alexander Volkov in a rematch, while Aljamain Sterling and Chris Weidman are the other ex-title holders to feature in Las Vegas.

Follow live updates and results from the UFC 310 main card and prelims, right here.