Former title challengers Anthony Smith and Dominick Reyes to fight at UFC 310
UFC 310 pairs Anthony Smith against Dominick Reyes
The first bout to be made official for UFC 310 comes in the light-heavyweight division between a pair of former title challengers in no. 12 ranked Anthony Smith (38-20) and no. 14 ranked Dominick Reyes (13-4).
UFC 310 is to go down on December 14, 2024, live from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Anthony Smith went into his title fight with then UFC light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones in 2019 on a three-fight finish streak, having defeated the likes of former light-heavyweight champions Rashad Evans (KO) and Mauricio Rua (KO), as well as former title challenger Volkan Oezdemir (rear naked choke) after moving up to 205 lbs.
Following a one-sided defeat to the greatest to ever do it Smith has been up and down with wins and losses since, going 6-6 over his latest 12 outings with wins over former title challenger Alexander Gustafsson (rear naked choke), Devin Clark (triangle choke), Jimmy Crute (TKO), Ryan Spann twice (rear naked choke, SD), and the 11-0 Vitor Petrino (guillotine choke) earlier this year in May.
His losses in that time came to future, now former light-heavyweight champion Glover Teixeira (TKO), no. 5 ranked Aleksandar Rakic (UD), no. 2 ranked former title challenger Magomed Ankalaev (TKO), no. 9 ranked Johnny Walker (UD), no. 8 ranked Khalil Rountree Jr (TKO), and Roman Dolidze (UD) in his most recent appearance back in June.
Dominick Reyes on the other hand went into his title fight against Jones a year later in 2020 with a perfect 12-0 record, the vast majority of the MMA fanbase thinking he did enough to win the fight, and the title.
The judges however awarded Jones the unanimous decision, quite controversially we might add.
Following that so called defeat Reyes would then drop his next three-straight to the likes of future, now former UFC light-heavyweight champions Jan Blachowicz (TKO) and Jiri Prochazka (KO), and then Ryan Spann (KO), dropping him from 12-0 as a professional to 12-4.
Reyes however rebounded with a win earlier this year in June, his first in over four years, snapping that four-fight skid with an incredibly impressive first round stoppage victory over former pro kickboxer Dustin Jacoby (KO).
Who wins this light-heavyweight encounter going down this December at UFC 310?
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