Shavkat Rakhmonov, a top fighter in the UFC's welterweight division, has spoken out about who could be his next opponent.
"I think the next opponent will probably be Maddalena. There's also Michael Page. I don't know - I don't care who I fight. The most important thing is to get a title fight sooner. We'll see how things work out. Right now we're waiting. Everything is unpredictable. There are times when someone goes down, gets injured. The main thing is to be ready for the fall, September-October, and who it will be makes no difference," Nomad said.
At the moment, Rakhmonov is on a streak of 6 consecutive early wins in the UFC. In his last fight, which took place in December last year, the representative of Kazakhstan won by choke from Stephen Thompson.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards' trainer Dave Lavelle has spoken out about his charge's potential opponents - undefeated prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov and the promotion's lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev.
"In some ways, Makhachev's deficiencies have been exposed in his last few fights in terms of stamina. Islam wants to move up in weight, but it's unclear if he can handle it. Shavkat is a dangerous guy, but he has also been vulnerable in recent fights, although Rakhmonov thinks he can run over any opponent," the specialist said in an interview with talkSPORT.
Edwards' next fight is expected to be against Belal Muhammad in July at a tournament in Manchester.
UFC welterweight Ian Harry revealed in a recent interview when and who he wants his next bouts to be against.
"Let's make the fight against Colby Covington in the summer. Because I don't like to fight when it's cold. I wouldn't fight in New York in November just because it's freezing cold. Unless I would be offered a fight against Kamaru Usman or Shavkat Rakhmonov in the co-main event of the night. Yes, it would interest me," Harry said in an interview with MMA Fighting.
Earlier Harry said that he had already signed a contract to fight Covington, but Colby, according to the Irishman, is in no hurry to do the same.
Australian welterweight Jack Della Maddalena has reiterated his desire to face undefeated division prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov of Kazakhstan on Aug. 18 at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia.
Nursulton Ruziboev, UFC middleweight division fighter, spoke out about a possible fight with the promotion's prospect at this weight, Khamzat Chimaev.