Shavkat Rakhmonov claims UFC offered title shot, but Belal Muhammad declined due to ‘timing issues’

Shavkat Rakhmonov is confident he’ll be new UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad’s next opponent — mainly because the promotion already offered him the opportunity.

“Yeah, actually, I’ve already been offered a fight to fight Belal and I accepted the fight against Belal,” Rakhmonov told MMA Fighting. “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.

“Before he became a champion, and after he won the belt, he said he’s going to be an active champion and he will defend his belt more often, but at the moment he wasn’t backing up what he said, you know, so let’s see what’s going to happen, when he’s going to be ready to fight me.”

Muhammad captured the 170-pound title with a unanimous decision win over Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 304 in Manchester in July. Following the win, it seemed like Rakhmonov—currently No. 3 at welterweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings—would be next, but former champion Kamaru Usman has gotten the attention of Muhammad as well.

When asked when the proposed championship fight with Muhammad would have taken place, Rakhmonov said it would have been relatively quickly.

“It was in October,” Rakhmonov said. “The Salt Lake [City] card, [UFC 307].”

Rakhmonov is 18-0 as a pro, with all finishes, including a 6-0 start inside the octagon. In his most recent outing, “Nomad” submitted multi-time title challenger Stephen Thompson in the second round at UFC 292 this past December.

Since then, Rakhmonov has been healing up and getting ready for his championship opportunity. When asked when he believes the fight will happen, the 29-year-old is ready to be booked as soon as possible, or, if timing delays it until 2025, Rakhmonov is happy to wait.

“I don’t know what’s going on with Belal and he’s going be ready at the moment,” Rakhmonov explained. “If they say December, January, I’m going to be ready. If they say April, May, it doesn’t matter. I already deserve to fight for the belt. I already secured the spot and I’ll just make sure I’m going to be ready for the fight. So, whenever he’s ready, I’m in.”