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Report | Shavkat Rakhmonov to fight Geoff Neal in top-10 welterweight showdown set for January

Undefeated welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov steps back into the Octagon against Geoff Neal in a three-round bout scheduled for January 14th. Originally reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN, the two top-10 welterweights will square off as part of a UFC Fight Night card headlined by a middleweight clash between Kelvin Gastelum and Nassourdine Imavov. Coming off […]

Undefeated welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov steps back into the Octagon against Geoff Neal in a three-round bout scheduled for January 14th.

Originally reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN, the two top-10 welterweights will square off as part of a UFC Fight Night card headlined by a middleweight clash between Kelvin Gastelum and Nassourdine Imavov.

Yooo. This is a good one, here. Geoff Neal vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov is verbally agreed for Jan. 14, per sources. Three round fight between Nos. 6 and 10 in the welterweight division. Early predictions on this one? pic.twitter.com/3UqghjeuLD

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 8, 2022

Coming off of the biggest win of his professional career over Vicente Luque in August, Geoff ‘Handz of Steel’ Neal looks to make it three in a row as he works his way up the rankings in hopes of securing a UFC title opportunity. After a successful showing on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2017, Neal scored five straight wins including victories over Belal Muhammad and current BKFC brawler Mike Perry.

Neal’s momentum was halted after back-to-back losses to Stephen Thompson and Neil Magny, but he got back into the win column with a split decision over Santiago Ponzinibbio. After his third-round knockout of Luque, Neal is ready to shift the momentum back into his favorite against one of the promotion’s rising stars.

Shavkat Rakhmonov Aims to Keep His Undefeated Streak Alive Against Geoff Neal

Shavkat Rakhmonov is one of the UFC’s brightest prospects. Entering the promotion with an undefeated record of 12-0, ‘Nomad’ has added another four wins to his resume inside the Octagon, defeating Alex Oliveira, Michel Prazeres, Carlton Harris, and Neil Magny, all by way of submission or knockout.

While fans have been marveling over the rise of fellow welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev, Rakhmonov has been climbing his way up in the rankings. A win over Neal would give ‘Nomad’ the biggest win of his career and likely result in a big jump in the UFC rankings for the Uzbekistani fighter, all, but guaranteeing him a top-five opponent in his next outing. Of course, Shavkat Rakhmonov will first need to get past ‘Handz of Steal’ who steps into the cage with nine knockouts in 15 career wins.

Geoff Neal and undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov appear to verbally agree to welterweight showdown

‘Handz of Steel’ Geoff Neal is about to have his hands full. The US-born athlete has agreed to a matchup against the undefeated welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov. The two UFC fighters have agreed to a fight against one another on Twitter. ‘Nomad’ Rakhmonov fired the first verbal volley and said: “I don’t blame you for doubting […]

‘Nomad’ Rakhmonov fired the first verbal volley and said:

“I don’t blame you for doubting yourself, but when are you going to accept the fight offer @handzofsteelmma [Geoff Neal]? “

I don’t blame you for doubting yourself, but when are you going to accept the fight offer @handzofsteelmma ?

— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) October 5, 2022

The 15-4 welterweight Neal responded with an agreement and a warning. He said:

“Had my team call Sean this morning. Be careful what you wish for. See you soon @Rakhmonov1994 [Shavkat Rakhmonov]”

Shavkat Rakhmonov vs Geoff Neal?

‘Nomad’ Shavkat Rakhmonov is an undefeated hot prospect rising through the competitive welterweight division. At 27 years old, the Kazakh-born fighter has put together an impressive record unblemished at 16-0. He will look to rise through the welterweight rankings further by fighting the 6th-ranked Geoff Neal.

The Fortis MMA trained Neal has fought a who’s who in the welterweight division. The American fighter holds notable wins over fighters such as Vicente Luque, Santiago Ponzinibbio, Mike Perry, Niko Price, and Belal Muhammad. Although in his UFC tenure, the 32-year-old athlete sustained two losses to Stephen Thompson and Neil Magny.

Kazakhstan’s Rakhmonov is just coming off a win over Neil Magny, in his most recent fight, via submission in round two. In fact, none of ‘Nomad’s victories have seen the judge’s scorecards. This young athlete has a one-hundred percent finish rate on his record. Exactly half of his wins were earned via submission and the other half were won by way of KO/TKO.

For the Kazakh fighter, he has had success in his callouts thus far. Earlier this year he called out China’s Li Jingliang, who did not accept the fight. But he also called out Neil Magny who he then later defeated. In March of this year, on Instagram, the normally quiet fighter shared:

“Peace be upon you! Now I have a couple of fighters in my sights, one already refuses to fight me, and the second claims that he is ready to fight anyone. @lijingliangmma get your balls together and fight! @neil_magny170 you said you were ready to fight anyone, let’s do it if Lee still doesn’t have the guts to.”

Shavkat Rakhmonov Has Had His Recent Callout Accepted

A long-time callout target of UFC welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov is seriously entertaining the idea of fighting him in the Octagon. Rakhmonov has had a hard time getting a fight booked following his impressive submission win over Neil Magny back in Jun…

Continue Reading Shavkat Rakhmonov Has Had His Recent Callout Accepted at MMA News.

Wonderboy Categorically Rejects Shavkat Rakhmonov Bout

UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson has doubled down on his ‘no grappler’ stance when it comes to his next UFC opponent. Thompson is looking to return triumphantly to the UFC after back-to-back losses to Belal Muhammad and Gilbert B…

Continue Reading Wonderboy Categorically Rejects Shavkat Rakhmonov Bout at MMA News.

Stephen Thompson reveals why he will not accept the Shavkat Rakhmonov fight: ‘Give me a striker’

Stephen Thompson is not keen on taking on the rising prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov. Having remained out of action since his last outing against Belal Muhammad in Dec. 2021, Stephen Thompson got paired up with undefeated Rakhmonov for his return to action. After the loss, Thompson had been in recovery from a collarbone injury he sustained […]

Stephen Thompson is not keen on taking on the rising prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Having remained out of action since his last outing against Belal Muhammad in Dec. 2021, Stephen Thompson got paired up with undefeated Rakhmonov for his return to action. After the loss, Thompson had been in recovery from a collarbone injury he sustained in training but now looks set to step inside the cage before the end of the year.

Stephen Thompson reveals why he does not want to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov

The UFC expressed interest in booking Thompson with Rakhmonov, for the promotion’s highly anticipated return to Madison Square Garden in New York, on the main card of UFC 281, scheduled for Nov. 12. Coming off two losses in a row to grappling specialists, the prolific striker revealed he would not be accepting another similar stylistic matchup.

“The UFC was talking about maybe Shavkat, he just beat Neil Magny. I was like look, ‘UFC, give me someone that is going to want to strike with me.’ I haven’t turned down the last two guys who are grapplers, one of the top grapplers in the welterweight division, didn’t turn him down,” Thompson said via BJPENN.com. “I was like ‘give me a striker.’ We were looking at Li Jingliang but he’s got a fight coming up, Kevin Holland, we were going to take that one but I wanted the Madison Square Garden card and he wanted to fight a little sooner.”

Although the promotion was pushing for the showdown, “Wonderboy” believes that it does not make sense for him to face a grappler for a third consecutive time and argued the fans want him in an exciting striking battle.

“Not at all. It doesn’t make sense for me to face another heavy grappler. Let me work on my craft a little more, especially when it comes to wrestling,” Thompson added. “They were pushing it, but it just doesn’t make sense, the fans didn’t want to see it either. They are like ‘dude, give Stephen a striker, someone who is going to strike with him.’ It is what it is, that is not a fight that interests me at this point.”

Do you want to see Stephen Thompson vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov?

Exclusive – Stephen Thompson touts Shavkat Rakhmonov as future UFC champion: ‘I think he’s got it, for sure’

Linked with a future welterweight outing against undefeated finisher and division riser, Shavkat Rakhmonov, former two-time title challenger, Stephen Thompson has touted the Uzbekistan-born contender as a future champion in the promotion. Thompson, who attempts to snap a run of two consecutive losses against both Gilbert Burns, and the streaking, Belal Muhammad in his next […]

Thompson, who attempts to snap a run of two consecutive losses against both Gilbert Burns, and the streaking, Belal Muhammad in his next Octagon walk – is without a victory since a short-notice December 2019 headliner against Geoff Neal, securing a unanimous decision win.

As for Rakhmonov, the undefeated #11 ranked welterweight contender turned in his fourth Octagon victory back in June, defeating Neil Magny with a completely one-sided second round guillotine choke win. The win came as Rakhmonov’s fourth in the promotion, sixteenth consecutively as a professional, as he also retained a perfect 100 percent finish rate to boot.

Stephen Thompson has been linked with a matchup against Shavkat Rakhmonov next

Tipped to potentially share the Octagon with veteran Simpsonville striker, Thompson in the near future as he looks to crack the welterweight top-10, Rakhmonov has been tipped by his potential future opponent as the best prospect at 170lbs at the moment – when compared with the surging, Khamzat Chimaev, and Philadelphia grappling ace, Sean Brady.

“Out of all three of those guys, I would it would be Shavkat (Rakhmonov),” Stephen Thompson told LowKick MMA reporter, Mike Owens. “I mean, he’s undefeated, he’s got great striking – we saw, Gilbert Burns kinda made Khamzat (Chimaev) look mortal, you know. He’s taken some shots, he’s took some shots from Gilbert. Gilbert almost had him finished. But Shavkat, man, his striking is very good, his Jiu-Jitsu is very good.”

“He controlled Neil Magny in that last fight, for literally nine and a half minutes of the fight, before he finished him,” Stephen Thompson said. “So I think he’s got it, for sure. …Shavkat, I think his strikings good enough, I think his wrestlings good enough, and I think his Jiu-Jitsu is good enough to be champ.”

Prior to his June submission win, Rakhmonov, a former M-1 Global welterweight champion, holds eight submission wins to go with eight knockout triumphs – landed Octagon victories over Carlston Harris, Michel Prazeres, and Alex Oliveira.