According to Shavkat Rakhmonov, UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad rejected a fight against him.
‘Remember The Name’ is fresh off his return to the cage at UFC 304 in Manchester last month. In the main event, Belal Muhammad faced Leon Edwards in a rematch of their March 2021 encounter. Despite entering the cage a big underdog, the title challenger wound up outstriking and outgrappling ‘Rocky’ en route to a decision victory.
Post-fight, Belal Muhammad confirmed his intent to be an active champion. The welterweight contender quickly set his sights on either Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov as his next title challenger. Muhammad added that he wanted to return to the cage in December at UFC 310 in Las Vegas.
However, according to Shavkat Rakhmonov, the UFC wanted Belal Muhammad to fight sooner than that. Earlier this week, ‘Nomad’ took to social media and accused the Palestinian fighter of going back on his word to remain active. Rakhmonov added that Muhammad apparently had no intention of fighting in 2024 at all.
🚨Shavkat Rakhmonov said that UFC offered him to fight Belal Muhammad on #UFC307 in Salt Lake city, but Belal declined this fight.
🎥 @MMAFighting ▫️ pic.twitter.com/DyeqEBEgtF
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 30, 2024
Shavkat Rakhmonov accuses Belal Muhammad of passing on UFC 307 matchup
Speaking in a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Shavkat Rakhmonov opened up on his previous comments. There, the welterweight claimed that Belal Muhammad was offered the chance to compete at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City in October. However, the champion turned down the fight, stating he wasn’t ready.
“I’ve already been offered to fight Belal, and I accepted the fight against Belal.” Shavkat Rakhmonov stated in the interview with MMA Fighting. “But, unfortunately, he declined to fight me due to timing issues. He wasn’t ready to defend his belt at that time. So, we’ll see what’s going to happen and when he’s going to be ready so I can fight him.”
He continued, “Before he became a champion, and after he won the belt, he said he was going to be an active champion. [He said] he would defend his belt more often. But, at the moment, he’s not backing up what he said. Let’s see what’s going to happen and see when he will be ready to fight me.”
What do you make of these comments from Shavkat Rakhmonov? Do you want to see him fight UFC champion Belal Muhammad?
