Recently-crowned UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad will defend his 170-pound title against the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at the organisation’s final numbered event of 2024, it has been confirmed. 

Muhammad, who defeated Leon Edwards to claim the welterweight championship in Manchester, England in late July, is currently riding an 11-fight unbeaten streak dating back to his most recent defeat, a unanimous decision loss to Geoff Neal back in January 2019. Since then, the champ has been near-perfect at 170, defeating the likes of Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady, Stephen Thompson and others, in addition to his title-winning decision over Edwards at UFC 304.

At UFC 310, which takes place inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 7, Muhammad will be tasked with becoming the first man to navigate a victory against the 18-0 Kazakh Rakhmonov; a fighter who has finished every opponent he has faced in his decade-long professional career.

Elsewhere on what is shaping up to be one of the most stacked cards of 2024, flyweight champion Alexadre Pantoja will defend his title against the debuting Kai Asakura. The Japanese, who signed with the UFC this past June, finds himself on the very short list of fighters to have been awarded a title bout on their debut for the organisation.

Elsewhere on the card, Nick Diaz will return to the Octagon for just the second time in almost a decade when he takes on Vicente Luque, while it was previously confirmed that former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will fight the undefeated Russian Movsar Evloev in a featherweight contest.

Meanwhile, Ciryl Gane will also return to the UFC for the first time in over a year where he will take on the giant Russian Alexander Volkov.