Remember how Dana White just wouldn’t throw the title fight bone towards Belal Muhammad? Well, all he needed was one chance to show he deserved the throne and at UFC 304, he did just that. He outclassed Leon Edwards, snatched the title, and now he has the top-ranked fighters vying for his attention. But where is the champion’s attention? It is right where it is supposed to be— on Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov. Both the fighters want a title shot and ‘Remember The Name’ will have to make a difficult decision.

1. Choose an opponent between Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
2. Fight the winner of Usman versus Rakhmonov.

Bully B has already stated that he prefers the second option. Ultimately, Dana White and the matchmakers will decide what’s next, but Robert Whittaker seems to have some idea about that. He appeared in the MMArcade Podcast on YouTube and shared his thoughts on the welterweight division:

“I don’t know. I think after Usman stepped in to fight, what’s his name? On a week’s notice [Khamzat Chimaev]. Yeah, I feel like that is a lot of balls in his court. I feel like that’s a lot of weight cause that’s pretty ba–sy. It was a pretty good fight. I don’t know, I can’t say, I wouldn’t be terribly upset if he didn’t get a title shot.”

But let us not forget how thankful Dana White was to Usman for stepping up on such short notice at UFC 294. Somewhere Whittaker feels this could work in the former welterweight champion’s favor.

“Usman came in like a week, four days, five days out of the fight and just like stepped up the fight to like, it was such a crazy and did really well. I don’t think he has fought since then, has he? … I can see them giving it to Usman because of that. Usman hasn’t been in for a long time. I could also see him fighting Shavkat because of that reason.”

Well, Robert Whittaker seems to be leaning towards Kamaru Usman, yet his uncertainty is clear. Here’s the thing. If Usman (ranked #2) and Rakhmonov (ranked #3) face each other, Belal Muhammad would have to wait for a long time for his first title defense. There’s a possibility he would not be able to fight until next year since his opponents would need time to recover and get back. But there’s one more issue.

‘Nomad’ won’t take no for an answer. He simply won’t.

Shavkat Rakhmonov won’t stop his online antics until Belal Muhammad agrees!

Rakhmonov made a sensational revelation when he shared that the UFC had offered him a title shot for UFC 307. “Actually, I’ve already been offered a fight to fight Belal and I accepted the fight against Belal … But unfortunately, he declined to fight me due to the timing issues. He wasn’t ready to defend his belt on that time. So we’ll see what’s going to happen and when he’s going to be ready so I will be able to fight him,” he told MMA Fighting.

If this is true, it is surprising that the promotion would want Muhammad to fight at UFC 307 in Utah when he would be a much bigger draw and a fan favorite at UFC 308 in Abu Dhabi. That card is now headlined by Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway- a fight that would have sold out in the US.

But coming back to the matter at hand, Shavkat Rakhmonov has been taking digs at the welterweight champion on social media. When Bully B opined that the 29-year-old was inactive, the latter hit back, reminding Muhammad how he remained on the sidelines for 14 months before he fought Leon Edwards at UFC 304. He even took some mean shots at Kamaru Usman.

Last month, in his interview with ‘Submission Radio’, he stated, “I think it’s kind of shame to ask for title shot after losing three fights straight. Like in my head, I cannot get my head a around it.” What’s more, Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena are the only top 5 welterweights not coming off a loss. Since Maddalena is out injured, it leaves Rakhmonov the obvious choice for a title fight.

Well, this online war might go on for a while, but we can’t deny that Rakhmonov versus Muhammad will be a great fight. Here’s something interesting. With the champion’s most fights ending in decisions, and Nomad’s every fight being a finisher, it is quite a bit of a contrast.

At the same time, we can’t sideline Kamaru Usman. Though he has been experiencing bad luck lately with three back-to-back losses, can we forget his dominant UFC run? He was on a long winning streak, which was stopped by Edwards (UFC 278). With the British fighter out of the champion’s throne, this is the best time for the 37-year-old to shine. It is a now-or-never situation for him.

Even Chael Sonnen feels so. On Aug. 29, he took to his YouTube channel and suggested ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ was right where he was supposed to be. But he also stated, “If Rakhmonov nudges him out, there’s probably not going to be another time that Kamaru’s going to be needed.”

We will have to wait a bit longer for Dana White to share an official announcement regarding the next title contender soon. Who do you think deserves the shot: Rakhmonov or Usman? Let us know in the comments below.