A championship title plan appears to have been scrapped by the UFC after speculations about certain issues with UFC 310’s headlining fight started swirling on social media. As per reports, welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who was scheduled to take on Shavkat Rakhmonov at the year-ending PPV, isn’t available in December.

Belal Muhammad wants to be a fighting champion, and he welcomes the toughest challenge. But before he could venture into that part of his championship reign, his first title defense fight has seemingly already fallen off. There are no explanations as to what happened that led the UFC to cancel the initial UFC 310 main event. Now, the matchmakers are rallying up and actively looking for a replacement fight, although it isn’t sure if Shavkat Rakhmonov will be featured on that card or not.

This news was first broken by an Australian MMA insider by the name of Benny P (on X), but the UFC hasn’t confirmed it yet. Even if they do confirm it, it’s still unsure if Shavkat Rahmonov will still be fighting for the strap next or if there’ll be a change of plans for the Kazakh star.

With a featured title bout getting canceled, things are not going be getting any easier for Dana White and Co. as they look for a replacement. But one thing they don’t need to worry about is that they still have one title fight that is still good to go for UFC 310.

Belal Muhammad may not defend his title, but Alexandre Pantoja will

Despite Belal Muhammad’s omittance from UFC 310, fans are still eagerly waiting for the co-main event. Alexandre Pantoja will defend his title for the third time against a debut star. Yes, you’ve heard it right! UFC 310 will witness the debut of Japanese MMA sensation and former Rizin FF champion, Kai Asakura, and Dana White has given him the chance to win the flyweight title in his very fight UFC fight.

Kai Asakura isn’t a new name in the MMA world, as the Japanese star has over 25 professional fights on his resume, with an outstanding 21-4 record. While fans may not find Belal Muhammad much of an exciting fighter even though he’s got a top-notch overall game, they could find Asakura exciting because the man is a knockout machine. It could be a banger as we wait to see how UFC 310 pans out.

As we approach UFC 310 in less than a month’s time, things will get clearer regarding the reason why Belal Muhammad decided to pull out. Is it injury problems or is it any other personal circumstances? Well, only time will tell.