Shavkat Rakhmonov will take on Belal Muhammad at UFC 310 with the welterweight title on the line. And if he can beat the champ, the #1 contender claims that he will not shy away from fighting anyone, including lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Makhchev has hinted at moving up in weight to challenge for the welterweight title as well. Although Belal has time and again, has claimed Islam and he would never fight, the situation might change if Rakhmonov takes the UFC gold from the Palestinian-American.
And now that he’s a step away from being the champion, Rakhmonov has claimed that while he doesn’t strive for fights and wants to treat everyone with respect, he wouldn’t bow down from a scrap.
Ahead of his highly awaited title fight, Nomad spoke to Adam Zubayraev on YouTube and revealed that he will not deny Makhachev a title shot if the Dagestani wanted to move in for his coveted second title.
“If Islam himself wants to fight, why not?… I myself don’t strive for it, since I treat everyone well. But if he has a desire to move up, I won’t refuse.”
But all that’s a long way from now. First, he will have to find a way to go through Belal’s relentless wrestling, which the champion believes will allow him to walk through the welterweight boogeyman.
Belal promises easy win against Rakhmonov
Belal is oozing confidence ahead of his very first title defense against arguably the most dangerous fighter in the division. And no one can blame him. While he was waiting for his title shot, the Palestinian-American fighter pretty much went through the rest of the roster.
And now, he’s taking on what many perceive as the biggest challenge of the division in one of the last PPVs of the year on December 8.
And the champion isn’t too stressed about Rakhmonov, a fighter who many others are ducking at the moment. In a recent AnikFlorian podcast episode on YouTube, he gave his prediction for the fight.
“When I go out there and I make it look easy, these people have nothing else to say. When I go out there and walk through him and I break him like there’s nothing else.”
For years now, experts have been claiming his demise in every fight he takes, and every time push has come to shove, the champ has proven that those rumors of his demise have been greatly exaggerated. Also, having dropped former champion Leon Edwards on his head to take his title in Manchester at UFC 304, Belal isn’t too concerned with expert opinions.
That said, this matchup is a very interesting one, with the Russian being a more complete fighter than what Belal is used to facing in the 170 lbs division.
