It's looking increasingly unlikely that former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will be stepping up on short notice to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.
Usman said on Thursday's episode of his "Pound 4 Pound" podcast that the Dec. 7 event may be too soon for the fight, though he didn't rule it out completely.
"I'm getting ready if I get that call," Usman said. "But 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, streaky guy in Shavkat Rakhmonov. He's very talented, he's very, very good, but I do see the holes, and I think that I can exploit that when that time is right. But Dec. 7 might be a little too early for that time."
Rakhmonov is still looking for a new opponent after 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad withdrew from the UFC 310 main event in late October due to a bone infection in his foot. Rakhmonov immediately said he wanted to fight "any contender" for the interim title and that Usman made the most sense.
Usman said last week he was open to fighting Rakhmonov on short notice, while former interim champion Colby Covington revealed he offered to step in against the undefeated fighter at UFC 310 but that the promotion had "other plans."
However, Rakhmonov accused Usman and Covington of making "empty call-outs" Monday in a post on X.
"No real intention, no action," Rakhmonov wrote. "Just posturing for the media and fans."
The UFC 310 co-main event will see flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja defend his belt against Kai Asakura. The final pay-per-view of the year will also feature several other marquee matchups, including Vicente Luque-Nick Diaz, Aljamain Sterling-Movsar Evloev, and Ciryl Gane-Alexander Volkov.
