UFC Rumors: Dana White Finally Planning Welterweight GOAT’s Return Against Undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov

Khabib Nurmagomedov had suggested that Dana White make Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kamaru Usman. A documentary called ‘Fight Inc.: Inside the UFC’ about the behind-the-scenes goings on at the world’s largest MMA promotion.

In it, Umsan’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz could be seen telling Dana White that the former welterweight champion, on a three-fight losing streak, wanted to face Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson next. However, Nurmagomedov proceeds to expertly convince the UFC boss to make Usman-Rakhmonov instead. But, the fight seemed like a non-starter both Usman and Rakhmonov refused the fight. But it turns out that the fight may after all be going ahead.

Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kamaru Usman rumored for UFC Abu Dhabi

According to a post from ‘MMA Godz’ on Twitter, the UFC has decided upon Kamaru Usman vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov for the main event of the UFC Abu Dhabi Fight Night card in August. Rakhmonov, the #3 ranked 170-pounder is not only undefeated in his 18 fights so far but has finished every opponent put in front of him.

On the other hand, Usman considered the welterweight GOAT by Dana White, lost his title to Leon Edwards after a shocking fifth-round head-kick knockout at UFC 278 in 2022. While their UFC 286 rematch went the distance, ‘Rocky’ managed to retain his title with a decision win over ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’

Usman then moved up to middleweight and took a short-notice fight at UFC 294 against Khamzat Chimaev last October, losing a tough and controversial majority decision to the Chechen. This, of course, is in sharp contrast to the fifteen-fight win streak the Nigerian was on before losing his title to Edwards.

This is why it seems the former champ was looking for a relatively less challenging matchup against ‘Wonderboy‘, and had said in a Q&A session last year that he didn’t see the point of facing Rakhmonov in a non-title bout.

The Kazakh, amidst buzz around a possible fight with ‘The Nigerian Nightmare‘ earlier this month, tweeted out that since all of the other top contenders were indisposed one way or the other, he wanted to face the welterweight champion after the UFC 304 title clash in July.

“JDM is hurt; Usman and Colby don’t want it. I’m ready to face the winner of Leon vs. Belal,” ‘Nomad’ tweeted.

And given all of this, most fans felt that a fight between the duo was dead on arrival. But, it seems like the UFC and Dana White may have prevailed over them, convincing them to take the fight. If the rumors are true, that is, which is still unconfirmed.

Ian Garry calls out Rakhmonov

Ian Garry won a unanimous decision victory over Michael ‘Venom’ Page on UFC 303 to continue his undefeated run. The effects of his recent move to Charles Oliveira‘s Chute Boxing Gym were apparent as he showed his grappling chops to give ‘MVP’ trouble, especially in the first and third rounds. In his UFC 303 post-fight press conference, he floated a possible fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov next.

“There’s some big names, there’s some cool match-ups. You know, there’s Shavkat, 18-0, undefeated. I’d love to get my hands on him. I’ve trained with him, I’ve got nothing but respect for the guy, but I wanna be the first guy to take his 0 and I know I can do it,” Garry told reporters.

To which the undefeated Kazakh simply reacted with a reminder of their training sessions (which presumably the Kazakh dominated) and promised to jog the Irishman’s memory sometime in the future. “Looks like Ian forgot what happened during those training sessions. I don’t mind reminding him in the future,” he wrote.

This means that Rakhmonov has not closed the doors on a possible bout with Garry, although if he would be willing to fight him soon and jeopardize his title shot chances remain to be seen. What are your thoughts on a possible Usman-Rakhmonov matchup?