Belal Muhammad might be feeling fairly good about his possibilities towards Shavkat Rakhmonov after seeing ‘Nomad’ go 5 rounds at UFC 310.
Whereas Rakhmonov scored his nineteenth profession win within the night’s co-main occasion, his conflict with Ian Machado Garry left loads to be desired. Rakhmonov largely dominated the motion towards the fence and logged practically 12 minutes of management time en path to a unanimous choice victory, but it surely was the primary time that the Kazakh appeared human since UFC followers grew to become conversant in him in 2020.
Wanting again on Saturday’s scrap throughout an look on Michael Bisping’s Consider You Me podcast, Paul Felder thinks the reigning welterweight world champion most likely acquired an enormous increase of confidence after seeing how the title eliminator between Rakhmonov and Garry performed out in Las Vegas.
“I think if you’re Belal, you’re pretty happy with either one of those guys winning, right? I mean, they spent a lot of time in the clinch,” Felder mentioned. “There have been a variety of moments of inactivity, whereas a man like Belal Muhammad goes to be relentless in these positions—towards the fence, with the takedown makes an attempt.
“Now, I know Shavkat potentially had a pretty bad knee injury that he was dealing with. How badly that affected him, we can’t really know, but he did look a little off to me. But I’m telling you, if I’m the champ, I’m excited for the next matchup with him. I think a lot of times we see when these guys are so scary and get all these finishes, once somebody shows a little bit of weakness in them—shows that there’s a chance to beat them—other guys are very excited at the opportunity. So, I’m excited to see that fight happen.”
Rakhmonov reportedly went into UFC 310 with a pre-existing damage
With the win, Rakhmonov is predicted to be the primary man to problem Muhammad after ‘Remember The Name’ scored a decisive choice win over ex-champion Leon Edwards earlier this yr in Manchester. Initially, Muhammad had hoped to defend his title at UFC 310, however a bone an infection in his foot pressured him to bow out of the bout.
In line with Daniel Cormier, Rakhmonov tore his MCL forward of the combat with Garry which may clarify why ‘Nomad’ selected to take a extra measured method towards Garry.
“If I’m Belal Muhammad, I’m actually kind of happy watching this fight tonight because Shavkat Rakhmonov did not look like himself even though I learned after that he had an injury,” Cormier mentioned in a video on his YouTube channel. “I think he might have tore his MCL going into the fight. Granted, with a torn ligament in your knee you’re not going to look like the killer that you looked like in fights prior.”
No particulars have been revealed relating to the extent of the damage or how lengthy it may put Rakhmonov on the shelf, however he’s anticipated to bear an MRI this week.
