Alexandre Pantoja again did not want to leave room for someone else at the top.
The American Top Team-trained Brazilian put promotional newcomer Kai Asakura to sleep with a palm-to-hand rear-naked choke in the second round of the headliner at UFC 310 on Saturday at T-Mobile, then defeated Ultimate Fighting. He defended his championship flyweight title. arena in las vegas. Asakura (21-5, 0-1 UFC) blacked out 2:05 into the second round.
The champion and challenger engaged in a heated exchange throughout an engaging first round. Pantoja (29-5, 13-3 UFC) delivered more pitches and landed more while also mixing in takedowns. Asakura fought back with knee kicks to the body and inside leg kicks, but was unable to keep up with the “cannibal”‘s pace. Pantoja began to scramble in the second round, jumping back and locking in a body triangle, focusing all his efforts on the two-time Rizin Fighting Federation titleholder’s neck. He slipped the chalk into place, switched grips, and let the grip do the rest.
Pantoja, 34, has won seven straight fights.
Meanwhile, Kill Cliff Fight Club’s rising star Shavkat Rakhmonov defeated Ian Garry by unanimous decision in a five-round co-main event at 170 pounds, earning him the undisputed UFC welterweight title. He maintained his position as the No. 1 contender for the championship. Rakhmonov (19-0, 7-0 UFC), forced to travel long distance for the first time in his career, swept the scorecards with a 48-47 overall record.
The first two rounds were characterized by long periods of footwork, heavy clinching and occasional bursts of attack, most of which came from Rachmonov. Gary (15-1, 8-1 UFC) began to turn the corner in the third corner, attacking the lead leg with repeated kicks, including one to the calf and one just above the knee. Rakhmonov responded with two takedowns and heavy ground-and-pound in the fourth round, and although he had the upper hand on the card, he was far from out of danger. Garry slipped out behind him in fifth place, secured position with a body triangle, and began working on some rear naked choke variations. Rakhmonov withstood all of that, made a comeback, got back up and ran out the remaining time.
Rakhmonov’s next fight is likely to be against welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in early 2025.
Further down the main card, MMA Factory mainstay Kirill Gane goes 2-0 in a head-to-head series with Alexander Volkov, dropping a split decision in a three-round heavyweight rematch of the controversial former Bellator MMA champion. He achieved good results. All three cageside judges scored it 29-28: Eric Colon for Volkov, Adalide Bird and Junichiro Kamijo for Gane.
Volkov (38-11, 12-5 UFC), who dropped a unanimous decision to the Frenchman in 2021, nearly defeated the bell at the end of a contested first round when he was released from the clutches of a brutal guillotine choke. Survived the near-term situation. . The 6-foot-7 Russian was hot in the midfield and seemed to land most of the important strikes against Gane (13-2, 10-2), with a perfectly timed spinning backfist that gave him the edge. His achievements were outstanding. I spat. Neither team could do much in the final five minutes. Volkov got a takedown, spent a significant amount of time successfully defending Kimura, and felt as if he had done enough to hand away the victory. Two members of the judiciary felt differently.
The setback ended Volkov’s winning streak at four.
Elsewhere, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 27 semifinalist Bryce Mitchell bounced back from a horrific KO loss to Josh Emmett on Dec. 16 to violently defeat Kron Gracie in the third round of the featherweight attraction. He was defeated with a slam and a follow-up elbow. Mitchell (17-2, 8-2 UFC) ended the fight 39 seconds into the third round.
Gracie (5-3, 1-3 UFC) avoided stand-up exchanges and repeatedly pulled his guard in favor of working from his back. The strategy mostly paid off in the second round, when the 2013 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Fighting World Championship gold medalist cheated with an armbar twice. When Gracie jumped to guard early in the third, Mitchell changed course and slammed Gracie to the canvas, sending him back with two devastating elbows to the face.
It was Mitchell’s first knockout victory in 19 professional fights.
Finally, Busan Team MAD export Choi Doo-ho finished off former M-1 Global Champion Nate Landwehr with punches and elbows in the third round of the featherweight competition. Landwehr (18-6, 5-4 UFC) succumbed to the blows 3:21 into round three.
Choi (16-4-1, 5-3-1 UFC) jumped into the lead and never looked back. He combined precise multi-punch combinations to the head and body with sharp leg kicks and smooth takedowns. Eventually, Landwehr became exhausted from all the punishment. Choi scored a takedown within a minute of the third round, went for a mounted crucifix, and battered the defenseless Tennessee native with punches and elbows until referee Chris Tognoni had enough.
33-year-old Choi Hee-seop achieved his first consecutive victory since 2016.
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