Belal Muhammad no longer defends his welterweight title against Shavkat Rakhmonov atop the UFC 310 fight card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 7. The newly-crowned champion was forced to withdraw from the main event due to bone infection in his foot.
The Chicago native posted a video on X showing him in the hospital. The caption says he would stay on IV antibiotics with no physical activity for the next 6 weeks.
36-year-old Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC) landed the 170-pound title by unanimous decision against Leon Edwards in July. He was expected to make the first defense of his belt against Rakhmonov (18-0).
The 30-year-old challenger Uzbekistan reacted to the news saying he was ready to face a replacement opponent for the interim strap. At this stage it is unclear whether the unbeaten No. 3-ranked contender remains on the card.
“Wishing Belal a quick recovery, Rakhmonov posted on X. “We’ll meet when you’re back at 100%. For now, I’m ready to take on any contender for the interim title at UFC 310.”
The UFC 310 co-main event features flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (28-5) of Brazil up against against two-time Rizin bantamweight champion Kai Asakura (21-4) of Japan.
With the Muhammad vs Rakhmonov cancelation, the current UFC 310 lineup looks as the following.
- Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – Pantoja’s UFC flyweight title
- Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
- Vicente Luque vs. Nick Diaz
- Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
- Randy Brown vs. Bryan Battle
- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
- Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
- Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
- Anthony Smith vs. Dominick Reyes
- Virna Jandiroba vs. TBA
- Rizvan Kuniev vs. Martin Buday
- Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. TBA