Israel Adesanya will be tuning in to UFC 310, the final pay-per-view event of 2024, this Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena with the rest of the fight world.
The event is headlined by a UFC flyweight championship bout between reigning titleholder Alexandre Pantoja and former two-time Rizin bantamweight kingpin Kai Asakura.
In the co-main event, Shavkat Rakhmonov will face Ian Garry in a five-round welterweight title eliminator. This match comes after the Kazakh star’s original title fight against current champ Belal Muhammad was canceled.
Adesanya, a former two-time UFC middleweight champion, shared his thoughts on the card via his YouTube channel, where he always selects one matchup as the “sleeper fight” on each PPV card.
Interestingly, this occasion saw Adesanya choose the main event, which sees a somewhat unknown commodity to UFC fans in Japanese star Asakura challenge for gold in his debut.
“Pantoja knows how to scramble, but he also knows how to scrap. … A guy like this, Kai, you just have to make him pay,” Adesanya said. “Who has made him pay yet for being reckless? You have to have someone who is confident in their skills enough to not fear (Asakura’s) barrage.
“Pantoja can grapple. I’m sure (Asakura) is very well-versed. But this is going to be a crazy fight. This might be the sleeper fight for f**k sake! And it’s the main event,” Adesanya added. “All I know is this card is f**king stacked.”
Adesanya is also expected to return to the Octagon soon, with reports placing him on the UFC Saudi Arabia lineup for Feb. 1, 2025, against Nassourdine Imavov.
