Kazakh fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov was set to headline UFC 310 against Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title, but the fight has been postponed due to Muhammad’s injury.
Although the fighter is willing to wait, in the meantime, Rakhmonov is seeking a replacement opponent. The fighter is determined to stay on the UFC 310 fight card as a potential interim fighter.
“I believe there is a worthy opponent available. I’m ready to save the card, too, if it’s for the interim title. I believe Usman is the worthy opponent who’s also probably ready to jump in and face him.” The manager has been in talks with the promotion and has spoken about offering the fight to Usman.
“Obviously, I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not. I just know I’m worthy and deserve the chance for the interim belt because we don’t know when Belal is going to be back. This kind of injury, infection, they might say six weeks but look at JDM (Jack Della Maddalena), it’s taken him a lot longer.”
“It’s good for Belal, too. It’s only going to make the fight bigger,” Rakhmonov said. “Champ vs. champ whenever Belal is ready. Obviously, after I secure the interim title, I’m going to fight him. The first quarter of next year, I believe is already scheduled and taken, so he cannot come back soon, anyway.
“I don’t know yet [if I would fight without the interim title available]. I want to compete, and I want to fight. I’m not ready to make a decision yet. We’ll see.
“I had my problems at the beginning of the year [with injuries], and now I’m ready to come back,” he added. “It was for a title fight and I was excited. Right now, it’s off the table, but I still believe I deserve the title fight, even if it’s not going to be against Belal. Like I said, it’s going to make our fight even bigger. Two champs, and it’s not going to give an option to Belal to run away from this fight.”
Rakhmonov has had constant back-and-forth with the current champ and Usman. The fighter says he won’t fight without an interim title on the line, and he believes Usman will be a good first choice for his octagon debut.
Although Rakhmonov understands the nature of Muhammad’s sickness, the fighter believes the champ could have fought through it.
“I think he was able to fight on Dec. 7, but he wasn’t sure and is being extra careful,” Rakhmonov said. “I was just envisioning myself getting the win, and it doesn’t matter how or which way. Belal is a good opponent, but I believe I can work with him in any field. I can counter him, I can pressure him. However, I just only see my [hand] getting raised in a fight against him.
“I don’t believe it’s going to be six weeks [to recover], to be honest. I believe Jack Della [had] the same problem with infection, he’s still not back. It can take a while.
“Belal doesn’t need to be greedy,” he concluded. “If I become interim champ, he’s still going to have a belt too. Champ vs. champ, bigger fight.”
Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0) is coming off a submission win over Stephen Thompson last December. Rakhmonov is 6-0 in the UFC and has won all of his fights by stoppage.
Kamaru Usman (20-4) is on a three-fight losing streak. He’s coming off a majority decision loss to Robert Whittaker on short notice at middleweight. Before that, Usman lost back-to-back fights to Leon Edwards to lose his welterweight title.
