Belal Muhammad will not make his first defense of the UFC welterweight title in 2024.

Muhammad, the reigning 170-pound champion, announced Thursday that he has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled Dec. 7 main event against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 due to a bone infection in his foot. Muhammad posted several photos of himself laying in a hospital bed with a swollen and sutured middle toe on his left foot.

Sources told Uncrowned that it is currently unclear whether Rakhmonov will remain on the year-end card against a replacement opponent or be re-booked against Muhammad at a later date.

Rakhmonov stated Thursday on social media that he is prepared to stay on the card and challenge a new opponent for an interim UFC welterweight title.

UFC 310 also features one other title bout, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja vs. former RIZIN champion Kai Asakura, as well as Ciryl Gane vs. Alexander Volkov, Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque and Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling as chief support.

Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC) captured the belt with a one-sided victory over Leon Edwards in enemy territory in July at Manchester's UFC 304 event to extend his current 11-fight UFC unbeaten streak. The 36-year-old is currently Uncrowned's No. 8 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world.

Rakhmonov (18-0) is widely considered to be a future champion of the division. The 30-year-old contender carries a perfect 100% finishing rate in his MMA career and has run roughshod over his first six UFC opponents, stopping the likes of Stephen Thompson, Geoff Neal and Neil Magny.

UFC 310 takes place at Las Vegas' T-Mobile Arena.