Welterweight sensation demands title shot: 'He said he would be an active champion'

Shavkat and his UFC coaches
Photo/Reproduction: Instagram

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New UFC welterweight champion (up to 77 kg.) just a month ago, Belal Muhammad | already has challengers in sight. After some exchanges barbs with Kamaru Usman, the Palestinian will likely defend his belt against Shavkat Rakhmonov. At least that's what the third-place finisher in the category said recently.

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In an interview with the North American website 'MMA Fighting', the Kazakh stated that the organization offered him a fight for the belt in UFC 307, scheduled for October 5th. However, the proposal was not accepted by the title owner.

“Actually, I was already offered a fight against Belal and I accepted. But unfortunately, he refused to fight me. He wasn’t ready to defend the belt at that time. Before he was champion, and after he won the belt, he said he would be an active champion, but at the moment he wasn’t confirming what he said, you know? So we’ll see what will happen, when he’ll be ready,” he said.

Shavkat Rakhmonov

Undefeated in 18 professional fights, Shavkat Rakhmonov was the M77-Global welterweight champion (1 kg.) in 2019, vacating the title to sign with the UFC the following year. With almost 20 fights, the Kazakh defeated all his opponents quickly. In his last appearance, in December, he won Stephen Thompson with a rear naked choke in the second round.