Jesse Holland is among the longest-tenured media professionals in the combat sports news space, covering MMA, professional wrestling and boxing on a full-time basis since early 2004.
Reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira is still expected to defend his 205-pound strap against No. 1-ranked title contender Magomed Ankalaev, but their five-round showdown will not be a part of the upcoming UFC 310 pay-per-view (PPV) card on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
That's according to a new report at MMA Fighting.
Instead, "Poatan" will kept on ice until some point in early 2025, which means the promotion will have to look elsewhere for a UFC 310 main event.
The original headliner, Belal Muhammad, was forced to withdraw from his welterweight title fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov after suffering a grisly toe infection.
Multiple fighters have campaigned for the open slot in hopes of scoring an interim title fight against the undefeated "Nomad," but the promotion has remained tight-lipped about its plans for next month's lineup. As of this writing, the plan is to rebook Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov just as soon as Muhammad gets back on his feet.