Shavkat Rakhmonov revealed why he won’t be the first fighter to challenge Belal Muhammad for the UFC welterweight world title.
On Wednesday, Dana White dropped a series of big-fight bombshells on social media, including the reveal that Muhammad would be putting his 170-pound title on the line for the very first time on Saturday, May 10 when the promotion heads back to the Bell Centre in Montreal for UFC 315.
There, ‘Remember The Name’ will square off with the No. 4 ranked contender, Jack Della Maddalena.
The news came as a bit of a shock to fight fans as everyone expected Shavkat Rakhmonov to be first up for Muhammad. In fact, ‘Nomad’ was even scheduled to challenge the champ in December, but Muhammad suffered an injury that forced him to bow out of the bout.
Shavkat Rakhmonov reveals why he’s not fighting Muhammad at UFC 315
As it turns out, Rakhmonov was offered the spot in May, but an injury forced him to turn it down.
“Big thanks to the UFC for offering me the shot at the belt first,” Rakhmonov wrote on X. “Unfortunately, due to injury, I won’t be ready for May. I’ll be facing the winner later this year.”
Fortunately, it sounds like the UFC isn’t giving Rakhmanov the Arman Tsarukyan treatment. But considering that ‘Nomad’ stayed on UFC 310 despite suffering a serious pre-fight knee injury, they do kinda owe him the opportunity.
It’s unclear if it’s the same injury that’s keeping Rakhmonov off of UFC 315, but depending on the severity of an MCL injury, it could take a few weeks to several months to fully heal.
