Kazakhstan’s Shavkat Rakhmonov wasted no time becoming one of MMA’s most exciting fighters to watch upon his UFC arrival in October 2022.
Coming from a Sambo background, Rakhmonov proved to be capable of doing everything inside the cage. On his feet, Rakhmonov is a violently dangerous sniper-like striker with a diverse arsenal of attacks.
His Sambo is more of a back-pocket offensive tool in case a fight happens to hit the ground or his striking game doesn’t get the job done.
Rakhmonov is must-see TV and gets better and more entertaining with each fight. The lengthy 6-foot-1 welterweight reached top contender status at age 28 and put his country on the MMA map for years to come.
Who Will Shavkat Rakhmonov Fight Next?
As of early summer 2023, it was still unclear who Rakhmonov would fight next. There were rumblings that Rakhmonov could face Kelvin Gastelum in the latter’s return to the welterweight division.
The 170-pound waters became muddied after reigning champion Leon Edwards’ first title defense in his March 2023 rematch against Kamaru Usman. Immediately following his majority decision victory in his home of London, “Rocky” was informed that two-time title challenger Colby Covington was next.
This came as head-scratching news for the division as “Chaos” was 2-2 in his last four fights, having only won once in over a year since his previous loss. From that point on, matchmaking snowballed and drastically impacted Rakhmonov, leaving him as the odd man out.
The same night Covington was granted next challenger status, Rakhmonov was linked to a matchup with Belal Muhammad, widely perceived as the rightful next title challenger. A fight between the two would have forced the most logical contender to, unfortunately, have to wait behind Covington.
Instead, UFC 288 came into play, taking a late hit with the cancellation of the co-main event between lightweights Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. Therefore, Muhammad took a short-notice bout against Gilbert Burns, winning a unanimous decision and solidifying himself as the next contender behind Covington.
Burns was considered an option for Rakhmonov. However, “Durinho” suffered multiple upper body injuries in his loss to Muhammad, delaying his timetable to return.
Outside of Burns, options were limited because almost all other top-10 fighters were booked or attached to some kind of immediate title scenario. Hence, the Gastelum matchup started to make sense in the eyes of many fans.
Outside of Gastelum, there were a couple of other possible options for Rakhmonov’s next bout—Khamzat Chimaev and former champion Kamaru Usman.
Chimaev appeared unlikely due to his move to middleweight. Usman said he was interested in a Chimaev bout, which in theory meant he’d move up to 185 pounds as well.
Ultimately, Usman vs. Rakhmonov makes the most sense, as they’re both perfect tests for each other. The former champion wants to prove he’s still capable of getting his title back, so what better way than fending off one of the two hottest and most dangerous rising stars?
Shavkat Rakhmonov MMA Record
Rakhmonov was perfect in the best of ways during the first part of his career. In 17 career fights, Rakhmonov spectacularly won them all, finishing every opponent.
Thanks to his phenomenal blend of grappling and precision striking, his finish diversity through 17 fights was a nearly identical balance of nine submissions and eight knockouts.
After his first UFC win—a first-round guillotine choke—over seasoned veteran Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira, oddsmakers took notice and fully entrusted “The Nomad” and his talents, favoring him with no worse than -280 moneyline odds in his next six bookings.
As a former M-1 Global and Kazakhstan Mixed Martial Arts Federation champion, Rakhmonov had barely even sniffed the third round, having only gone to it twice. Nine of his wins came in round one.
Michel Prazeres fell victim to Rakhmonov in the Kazakh’s sophomore UFC appearance. One fight before squaring off with Rakhmonov, Prazeres was sneakily on one of the best unbeaten streaks in the division, winning eight fights in a row.
Known for his strong grappling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu game, Prazeres still was no match for his undefeated adversary and suffered his first and only career defeat in 31 fights via submission.
While his grappling prowess is always present, Rakhmonov will often hurt his foes on the feet before the possible submission. His third UFC bout against Carlston Harris looked to be en route to a similar ending, but a first round spinning wheel kick made for a highlight-reel finish.
After that win, Rakhmonov was at worst a -320 favorite for his next bouts.
The Harris win was enough for the promotion to see there was something to this undefeated finishing machine, matching him with Neil Magny, the record holder for most wins in the division. Despite his vast experience edge, Magny was no match for Rakhmonov and got bullied in the grappling.
A merciless first round of control along with ground-and-pound carried late into round two before Magny was forced to tap to a guillotine choke.
Rakhmonov’s next fight with Geoff Neal was undeniably his toughest and most competitive, but it was also his most impressive. Neal was on a resurgent tear heading into the encounter and performed with a +333 betting odds chip on his shoulder against Rakhmonov’s -560.
The welterweights blistered each other with heavy shots in every exchange. Rakhmonov shined brightest with his nasty clinch work, drowning Neal with elbows and tight punches.
Both men displayed world-class chins, which Rakhmonov hadn’t yet shown.
The Neal fight seemed like one of those hellacious wars destined to head to the judges’ scorecards. Rakhmonov had to keep his finishing streak alive, however, latching on a late standing rear-naked choke on Neal after hurting him with punches.
Outside of his pro career, Rakhmonov won two gold and silver medals as an amateur in the World Mixed Martial Arts Association.
Shavkat Rakhmonov Championship Odds
In the first half of 2023, oddsmakers at DraftKings Sportsbook gave Rakhmonov odds of +1100 to win a title by the end of 2023. It wasn’t a good bet given the logjam in the division.
The scramble for contendership created by UFC President Dana White’s gifting of Covington’s title shot left Rakhmonov’s chances of getting an opportunity at slim to none.
Barring any wild multiple-fighter injury-related incidents, he’s not going to fight for a title in 2023 with Covington and Muhammad in front of him.
Edwards will face one or the other, and that will be the last welterweight title fight of 2023.
If Rakhmonov gets a high-profile matchup with someone like Usman, Burns or Gastelum, he could soon be up for a title shot. However, that wouldn’t likely come until 2024.
