Undefeated welterweights will battle for the top spot at UFC 310.

When welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was forced to forfeit his title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on December 7 due to a bone infection in his foot, Rakhmonov called for an interim title fight against Kamaru Usman.

Both Ian Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Joaquin Buckley, who were set to face each other on December 14 in the UFC on ESPN 63 headliner, threw their names in the hat to face Rakhmonov .

The UFC has opted to sign Machado Garry, who will meet Rakhmonov in a five-round non-title co-main event fight at UFC 310 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Dana White announced Friday . Buckley will now face Colby Covington.

Garry is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Michael Page at UFC 303 in June. Meanwhile, Rakhmonov earned his sixth octagon victory as he became the first to submit Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 in December.

Rakhmonov expressed his disappointment with the welterweight division as a whole on X after the fight was announced.

I am very disappointed in our division. Belal, Leon, Colby, Kamaru, Jack, Sean – you all let fans down. The only one who supports his words is Ian, and I respect that. But make no mistake, @iangarryMMA – I’m coming for your 0 and will fight for the belt after https://t.co/eE3Ps8aCoj

— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) November 16, 2024

The winner of the UFC 310 bout is expected to challenge Mohammed for the title upon his return to competition.

With the addition, the current UFC 310 lineup includes:

• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – for flyweight title
• Ian Machado Garry vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
• Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
• Virna Jandiroba vs. TBD
• Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
• Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
• Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque
• Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
• Martin Buday vs. Rizvan Kuniev
• Bryan Battle vs. Randy Brown
• Lukasz Brzeski vs. Tallison Teixeira
• Doo Ho Choi vs. Nate Landwehr

For more information on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s events hub for UFC 310.