Kamaru Usman has revealed that he will jump on the chance to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on short notice. Rakhmonov, of course, was set to face welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in the latter’s first title defense on the December 7 card. But, a bone infection has forced ‘Bully B’ to pull out. There are now talks of an interim title bout between ‘Nomad’ and another top 170-pounder to replace it, and Kamaru Usman’s name is among those who have a strong claim.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ addressed this buzz on his podcast with Henry Cejudo and promised to take the fight if it was offered to him. “I’m still in that gym you know… But if the UFC is going to call who they think is going to be legit tough enough, and mad enough to step in there [against Rakhmonov at UFC 310]. or is crazy enough to step in there on short notice and go out there and possibly shock the world definitely the UFC knows who to call,” he said.

Usman, of course, had accepted a fight on barely ten days’ notice against undefeated phenom Khamzat Chimaev (at a higher weight class, no less) at UFC 294.

“When that situation happens, and if they do give me a call, I’m going to answer the call. We get a couple of things straight and you know if we got to do it I don’t shy away from any of that. I mean like I’ve done it on what… eight days notice [before],” Usman declared on his ‘Pound 4 pound’ podcast.

Usman’s comments also reveal that he hasn’t yet been offered the fight by the UFC. But if it isn’t Usman, and the UFC indeed wants to go with an interim title clash, fans are curious which other fighters could the promotion call on to fill in for Belal Muhammad.

Two fighters other than Kamaru Usman can fill in for ‘Bully B’ at UFC 310

UFC commentator Jon Anik feels that the most suitable candidate to take on the undefeated Kazakh at UFC 310 is undefeated Irish #7 ranked welterweight, Ian Garry. Most fans, of course, didn’t like this idea one bit given Garry’s historic unpopularity. But at the moment, most of the top-ranked 170-pounders are either injured or coming off of losses.

This has narrowed the pool for whom the UFC could choose for an interim clash. But along with Garry, there is also #5 ranked Sean Brady, who has a similar record to the Irishman. Except for these two, there is really no one else, except #9 ranked Joaquin Buckley, who could take on Rakhmonov at the Las Vegas card. However, ‘New Mansa’ has already been booked to battle it out against the aforementioned Ian Garry at UFC’s last offering of 2024 on December 14.

However, the fact that the UFC has not contacted Usman yet doesn’t bode well for the former champion’s UFC 310 prospects. After all, it has been a couple of weeks since the news of Muhammad pulling out broke. That is plenty of time for the promotion to get in contact with Usman and iron out the details.

Some feel that the UFC wants some new blood in the title picture and that is why ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is not in the company’s UFC 310 plans. The coming days will give us an answer either way. But at the moment, according to Usman, the UFC has not solicited his services for its final PPV card for 2024. What do you think about Kamaru Usman’s revelations about a potential UFC 310 clash against Shavkat Rakhmonov?