UFC 310 Pre-Fight Matchups

In the first fight on the main card for UFC 310, Nate “The Train” Landwehr, the American, and Choi Doo-Ho from South Korea Clash in T- Mobile Arena, Las Vegas. The crowd favorite Nate the Train is known for his brawling nature with a chin to match. He’s fighting a South Korean that signed to the UFC in 2013 and has had 8 fights since. Unfortunately, A mixed bag of results against some cemented names on the roster including Cub Swanson and Charles Jourdain, Choi has knockout potential in every fight he fights. Choi has clipped off 12 of his 15 wins with a KO/TKO with one of those coming in his last fight. This fight should kick off the card with action as this matchup is destined for damage and excitement. This really is anyones fight, but Nates confidence as of late gives him an edge that might be too much for Choi.

The second fight of the night is a grapplers dream matchup. Bryce Mitchell, more commonly known as “Thug Nasty” holds one of two twister submissions in UFC history and is an absolute threat on the ground. He takes on Kron Gracie, a fighter who comes from MMA and Ju-Jitsu royalty, the Gracie family. Both of these fighters are coming off a loss looking to rewrite the ship. Bryce Mitchell was starched by Josh Emmett in one of the scariest knockouts of the year in 2023 on UFC 296. Kron’s last fight saw an interesting fight strategy that didn’t pay off against Charles Jourdain. Kron has addressed his regret to the media this week and says he will try to tactically get to the ground instead of fighting off his back as the main strategy. This should be a high level grappling match, but sometimes these fighting styles neutralize each other resulting in boring standup fighting that drags to a decision. Bryce Mitchells experience and more wrestling heavy approach gives him an edge over the virtually untested Kron Gracie.

The third matchup of the night is one of the most exciting of the evening. The big boys Ciryl Gane and Alexander Volkov will throw down in the octagon on Saturday night. Both of these heavyweights have proved they can stand with the best of the division. Volkov is coming off a masterclass victory over the crowd favorite Australian Tai “Bam Bam” Tuivasa. Questions arise about Volkovs age and physical ability going into a fight with the fresher, more agile Gane. On the other hand Gane most recently shared the octagon briefly with the GOAT Jon Jones in a quick loss that left a lot of questions about the holes in Ciryls game. This fight should be a banger, although the tendency to point fight from both fighters could result in decision leaving the refs to evaluate damage, strikes, and control. This matchup favors the fighter with more ability in Ciryl Gane, but Volkov is no walk in the park.

The fourth fight and Co-Main event of the evening might just be the people’s main event. This bout features two young undefeated fighters in Khazikstan’s Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ireland’s new brash star Ian Machado Garry. These two middleweights have been guaranteeing their victories all week to the media. Shavkat, on paper, is the scarier fighter with 18 wins, all of them by finish. Garry, also undefeated, has shown chinks in his armor in previous fights. Garry is a skilled striker with speed and accuracy in the pocket; this will be tough for Rakhmonov if he accumulates too much damage too early. Rakhmonov appears to have the more complete game with some wins by choke. Truly a war of attrition because both fighters have the tools to finish the other. The edge in this matchup goes to Rakhmonov with stories circulating that he choked out Garry in sparring. There will be blood.

The Main Event of UFC 310 features Brazilian Flyweight Champion Alexandre Pantoja and the challenger, Japan’s Kai Asakura. Flyweight fights are always a blast for fight fans, the scrappy nature of the mens lightest weight division always delivers fun action packed bouts. Pantoja has been utterly dominate in the flyweight division for years. The momentum alone could carry him to victory over first time challenger Kai Asakura. Asakura has a scary confidence about him that comes from his ability to knockout his opponent at any given moment. The power of this 125 pounder is the great equalizer. This really is anyones fight and something about this matchup screams upset. You see it time and time again, dominate champions get clipped and damaged and cannot recover. This fight has everything a main event needs, a champion that delivers action every time he steps in the octagon and a scary challenger trying to win the first UFC gold for his country Japan. Pantoja has the edge in this matchup strictly because of experience. He has been there when the lights have been the brightest, fought plenty of five round testers and come away victorious. However it must not go understated that the belt might be flying back to Japan. You know Dana is looking for the MMA market in Japan to have a champion.