Belal Muhammad’s withdrawal from UFC 310 due to injury, while unfortunate and leaving his scheduled opponent Shavkat Rakhmonov without an opponent at the time of writing, leaves the door open for somebody to step into the main event in Paradise, Las Vegas.

 

 

Alex Pereira

Belal Muhammad Out of UFC 310 Through Injury

Muhammad, nicknamed “Remember the Name”, confirmed his withdrawal from UFC 310 by posting an image of a gruesome bone infection that has hospitalised him and that will keep him out of training for the next six weeks.

Following the shock update from the welterweight champion, reports emerged that the UFC have approached Pereira and offered him a short-notice fight against Magomed Ankalaev in a light heavyweight title defence.

Belal Muhammad

It wouldn’t be the first time this year that Pereira has stepped in at short notice to save a UFC event either. ‘Poatan’ did the same thing at UFC 303 last June, with just two weeks’ notice before he fought, and won, against Jiri Prochazka. He also did the same thing a few events prior at UFC 300.

However, the UFC could also move to make Rakhmonov’s fight against a new opponent an interim title bout. They have not made a decision as to the fate of the main event as of yet, with the event scheduled for the 7th of December.

With a decision still yet to be made as of writing this article, Pereira himself has been active on social media to react to the news, simply dropping a phone emoji on Instagram, suggesting that all the UFC has to do is give him a call, and then he’ll be there. Certainly one to watch…

Alex Pereira

Alex Pereira’s 2024 Has Been Remarkable

The Brazilian has had a meteoric rise recently, and all eyes are on his future
Pereira, a former UFC middleweight champion and the reigning light heavyweight kingpin, has had a stellar year inside the Octagon, reeling off three straight title defences at record-breaking speed to establish himself as one of the sport’s biggest stars. This led to fans clamouring to see him in action one more time before the year ends.

Throughout 2024, Pereira has been flirting with a move to heavyweight, and he’s even teased a drop back down in weight for a shot at Dricus du Plessis, the current 185lb champion. However, just before his KO win over Rountree Jr. at UFC 307, he shut down talk about fights in other divisions as he insisted his immediate future is at light heavyweight.

Alex Pereira
Pereira’s coach, Glover Teixeira, meanwhile, has claimed that he wants to save Pereira for someone other than Ankalaev.

“They are talking about Ankalaev right now,” he said on the Overdogs podcast. “It’s probably the fight at light heavyweight, but Alex wants to move up. I’m 100 percent behind him. I think he can fight any of those heavyweights. I’ve been saying for a couple of fights I want him to take six months off. Come back in six months and maybe in March or April next year he fights. That will be a perfect time, in my opinion, for [him to] recover little things here and there.”