Unbeaten welterweight contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov, has made it clear he wants the next title shot at 170lbs. In a tweet, the Nomad said, “JDM is hurt, Usman and Colby don’t want it. I’m ready to face the winner of Leon vs Belal”. This sounds fairly accurate, or at least parts of it are, as Jack Della Maddalena has a bone infection and is currently unavailable. Covington not wanting a fight with Shavkat would be plausible, given his history of avoiding welterweight contenders. Regarding Usman, no one knows what’s going on, but avoiding Rakhmonov makes sense given the age of “The Nigerian Nightmare”.
Does Shavkat Rakhmonov Deserve a Shot at Welterweight Gold?
No one could grumble about Rakhmonov getting the next shot, after Belal Muhammad. Apart from JDM, hardly anyone has a good argument for getting a crack at the welterweight strap, besides Kazakhstinian. Rakhmonov vs JDM would have been an ideal title eliminator fight. However, with JDM’s injury, we have no idea how long he could be out for. Unless Shavkat wants to be waiting around, a shot at the belt makes sense.
Albeit, there could be other fights to keep Rakhmonov ticking over. Namely, Usman, Covington, and Gilbert Burns are currently available with all making complete sense. The ideal fight would be Usman, however, his future at welterweight is unclear coinciding with his silence. Covington likely has no interest in fighting Shavkat, given the threats he poses as a top welterweight contender. Burns would make sense for a good comparison point between JDM and Shavkat. But Burns was the victim of a brutal KO courtesy of JDM in March. He could be recovered, but again, it is uncertain.
So, with all things considered, a title shot seems justified. The only issue would be that Rakhmonov has not fought another top contender for the shot. Nevertheless, if opponents are unavailable or ducking, there is not much he can do. Also, he has dominantly won all his fights since joining the UFC, meaning a first championship bout would be difficult to deny. Given his skillset, it is effortlessly agreed that he has the tools to give anyone trouble. We shall see what happens post-UFC 304, but a fight between Rakhmonov and Leon Edwards or Muhammad would be interesting.
Featured image credit to Embed from Getty Images
