Belal Muhammad reveals ideal timeline for Shavkat Rakhmonov fight

By Harry Kettle - January 17, 2025

UFC champion Belal Muhammad has revealed his ideal timeline for his anticipated title fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Shavkat Rakhmonov, Belal Muhammad

Right now, Belal Muhammad is on top of the world as the UFC welterweight champion. He captured the belt from Leon Edwards and ever since then, he’s been getting ready for a showdown with top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.

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It was supposed to happen at UFC 310, only for an injury to Muhammad to ruin those plans. However, after Shavkat was able to defeat Ian Machado Garry at the same event, their post-fight staredown made it clear that this was the direction the UFC wanted to go in.

In a recent interview, Muhammad spoke about when we can expect to see the fight get booked.

Muhammad looks ahead to Rakhmonov fight

“Right after Ramadan, I think. May, June, is the perfect timeline for me,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “I started last week training with those guys down in Vegas. That was a nice shock to the body. It got me awoken. It let me know, ‘All right, we’ve got to get in shape-shape. So it just feels good to be training. I was at the PI. I was doing therapy everyday over there, so my body is finally getting back to normal and finally getting back to where it was.”

“We look at our strategy and what we thought before the fight was going to work, and we saw it play out in that fight, and we think is still going to work. I don’t think he’s ever fought anybody like me. There’s not a lot of guys who ever fought a guy like me, so once you get into the cage with me, it’s different. He’s going to get into the cage with me, realize it’s different, and there’s levels to this. I’m going to show the world why I’m the best welterweight in the world.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Belal Muhammad Shavkat Rakhmonov UFC