Nate “The Train” is back to close out the UFC’s pay-per-view year.
Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed to MMA Fighting that Nate Landwehr faces Doo Ho Choi at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. MMA Mania was first to report the booking.
Landwehr has proven to be one of the featherweight division’s most exciting fighters as he steps in the octagon for the second time in 2024. The 36-year-old knocked out Jamall Emmers at UFC Atlantic City this past March to bounce back from a decision loss to Dan Ige at UFC 289 in June 2023.
Choi is set to compete for the second time in a year for the first time since 2016. “Korean Superboy” knocked out Bill Algeo with a nasty left hook in the second round at UFC Vegas 94 this past July to earn his first victory since knocking out Thiago Tavares at the TUF 23 Finale in July 2016.
As of now, a new main event for UFC 310 is yet to be announced after an injury forced welterweight champion Belal Muhammad out of his scheduled title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Landwehr Vs SuperBoy
Has FOTY written on it (on paper at least)
Kamaru Usman Pours Cold Water on UFC 310 Fight Rumors
Kamaru Usman, who is a former UFC welterweight champion, threw his name in the hat as a potential opponent for Shavkat Rakhmonov to face. Rumors had even surfaced claiming the fight was in the works for UFC 310.
Taking to the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast, “The Nigerian Nightmare” revealed that he will not be stepping inside the Octagon for the UFC’s year-end pay-per-view.
“To be honest, it’s a fight that I’ve looked at and I know it’s definitely a very, very winnable fight and I know that I can, of all people, go out there and expose what hasn’t been exposed in a young, hungry, streaking guy in Shavkat Rakhmonov. He’s very talented and very, very good, but I do see the holes and I think that I can exploit that when that time is right, but December 7th might be a little too early for that time,” Usman said.
It’s unclear if the UFC will find a replacement opponent for Rakhmonov. It’s possible that the promotion could feel confident in Belal Muhammad’s comeback trajectory and have Rakhmonov wait for another event to get his title shot.
What chance does kai have of winning?
Bump
Report: UFC 310 ticket sales ‘really bad’ with markdowns ‘already happening’ — ‘This could get real ugly’
Did the overabundance of APEX shows kill the “Sin City” market?
UFC CEO Dana White once told Demetrious Johnson, the greatest flyweight in the history of MMA, that combat sports fans don’t really care about 125-pound athletes, which is why “Mighty Mouse” and the rest of the division never got pay-per-view (PPV) points.
With that in mind, it probably comes as no surprise to learn that UFC 310, headlined by the flyweight title fight between reigning champion Alexandre Pantoja and 125-pound newcomer Kai Asakura, is struggling to sell tickets for the Dec. 7 fight card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the final PPV of the promotion’s 2024 fight campaign.
That’s according to the number crunchers at Fight Opinion.
“An update on UFC 310 ticket sales for T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas: they’re really bad,” the tweet wrote. “Markdowns are already happening. $1,200 seats down to $1,000. $1,000 seats down to $750. Even with papering, this could get real ugly. The erosion of the Vegas market for UFC is a big story.”
No telling if the original headliner would have fared any better.