Preview: UFC 310 Prelims

The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s final pay-per-view of 2024 comes with a deep set of prelims attached on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Light heavyweights look to get back on track in the featured spot, as former title challengers Dominick Reyes and Anthony Smith hunt a big win to cap off the year. There’s plenty to like further down the UFC 310 undercard. Featherweight contenders Movsar Evloev and Aljamain Sterling meet in what might be the best-matched fight on the draw, and two exciting welterweight bouts—Vicente Luque faces Themba Gorimbo and Randy Brown confronts Bryan Battle—should help sort out things at 170 pounds. Even the early prelims have some impressive star power, with big-name veterans Chris Weidman, Michael Chiesa and Clay Guida all making their latest trips to the Octagon.

Now to the preview for the UFC 310 “Pantoja vs. Asakura” prelims:

Light Heavyweights

#12 LHW | Dominick Reyes (13-4, 7-4 UFC) vs. #13 LHW | Anthony Smith (38-20, 13-10 UFC)

ODDS: Reyes (-340), Smith (+270)

It would be a stretch to say Reyes is truly back, but the former light heavyweight title challenger has at least proven he’s not done yet. Reyes went from top prospect to top contender in a shade over two years, as the former Stony Brook University Seawolf was long and athletic enough to potshot his way to a title shot against Jon Jones; and the general consensus was that Reyes did enough to unseat the all-time great in what wound up as a narrow Jones decision victory. Jones would abandon the light heavyweight division shortly thereafter, and the thought was that Reyes would wind up reigning over the proceedings at 205 pounds. However, he suffered the first knockout loss of his career to Jan Blachowicz in a fight for the vacant title, which in turn seemingly sent Reyes into a spiral that lasted nearly four years. Reyes did well enough against Jiri Prochazka, until the Czech berserker returned fire with a brutal spinning elbow. “The Devastator” then looked flat upon his return 18 months later, getting knocked out by Ryan Spann almost immediately. After another year and a half on the shelf—which included a career-threatening injury—Reyes felt like a lost cause heading into his June bout against Dustin Jacoby. That feeling only intensified when Jacoby stormed Reyes in the early going. Reyes eventually returned fire with a hard counter and scored the knockout, nailing down his first win in nearly half a decade. It’s not quite a comeback, but it was a ridiculous amount of catharsis and there’s the chance that a confident Reyes can start reversing his fortunes, particularly since he might be catching Smith at just the right time.

Smith enjoyed his own sudden rise through the light heavyweight ranks back in 2018. A solid middleweight veteran for nearly a decade, Smith moved up to 205 pounds and ran up a wide-open division in a manner of months, earning a shot at Jones with three victories less than five months apart. After getting turned back by Jones, “Lionheart” has settled in somewhere around a Top 10 light heavyweight, though it’s still hard to tell exactly how the dynamics will play out from fight to fight. Smith seemingly needs to steel himself over the course of every fight, but while he often bends, he rarely breaks, either leading him to a comeback befitting of his nickname or just allowing an overconfident prospect to walk directly into a finish. As Smith enters his late 30s after a prolific career, there are nights where he just does not have it. Johnny Walker froze him out of the proceedings for three rounds in May 2023, and Smith is coming off his flattest performance in recent memory, accomplishing little in a three-round slog against Roman Dolidze. If that’s the new normal for Smith, Reyes should be able to lean on his size and athleticism to thread the needle for a victory in what could be an ugly fight. However, if this fight ever rises above a simmer, there’s a strong chance for a Smith upset. Reyes’ last win was an excellent bit of progress, but it’s also probably not a good sign that he was on his heels against Jacoby, who doesn’t stand out as a particularly hard-hitting light heavyweight. Fortunately for Reyes, when considering Smith’s last outing, the read here is that this fight won’t get above that simmer. The pick is Reyes via decision.

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Reyes vs. Smith
Gorimbo vs. Luque
Evloev vs. Sterling
Battle vs. Brown
Weidman vs. Anders
Van vs. Durden
Griffin vs. Chiesa
Hooper vs. Guida
Nzechukwu vs. Brzeski