You can say Shavkat Rakhmonov has a certain “aura” or call him the “boogeyman” of the division – Belal Muhammad is ready to shut all that down.
At UFC 310, Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) puts his recently acquired 170-pound title on the line against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov. It’s a quick turnaround, as Muhammad won the belt at UFC 304 in July by soundly winning a unanimous decision over Leon Edwards.
Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is viewed as one of the scariest fighters in the division, if not the entirety of the sport. He’s fearless and aggressive, and has never needed the judges to determine the winner of a fight. However, Muhammad believes Rakhmonov hasn’t been in there with someone like him, who can force him into difficult situations.
“He’s mentally tough, he’s mentally strong, and if it comes down to grit for grit, he’s going to beat a lot of these guys based off of his toughness and his will to win,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “Now you’re going against someone with a stronger will. Now you’re going against somebody that’s tougher. Now you’re going against somebody that won’t back down, won’t fold.
“So now, it’s how he’s going to react now, and I don’t think that he’s really had to face that type of adversity in the UFC yet. He really hasn’t. He’s always been in the lead. Now he’s going to be falling behind. Now you’re going to be getting to later rounds. Now when it starts getting tougher and you can’t breathe, and you’re getting tired and this is not working, and that’s not working, how do you make your adjustments?”
The champ says he’s been through those trials and tribulations under the bright lights already, so he’s prepared for those moments. To his point, Rakhmonov has not been scheduled for a five-round fight in the UFC. In fact, he’s only reached Round 3 once, in a Fight of the Night against Geoff Neal last March.
Muhammad doesn’t like the assumption that just because Rakhmonov hasn’t been into deep waters, he can’t perform well.
“I just think that he doesn’t get tired, this, this and this – he hasn’t been in front of me,” Muhammad said. “No matter who you are, who’s in front of me, you’re going to get tired fighting me. I don’t care what your path was like, what your cardio regiment is, I’m a different fighter. I’m a different pace than anybody you’ve ever seen.”
Muhammad believes he will present new challenges for his undefeated opponent. He’s confident his approach and his experience as a perennial underdog will carry him to victory against another undefeated opponent that some see as unbeatable.
Just like Sean Brady, who was undefeated before Muhammad got a hold of him in 2022, the champ sees a path to putting a blemish on another pristine record.
“We see weaknesses in these guys,” Muhammad said. “He may have a zero next to his name, but we see holes. That’s what we see in those zeros, those are the holes that we see, and we’re going to walk through those holes.”
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