Shavkat Rakhmonov has his doubts about the timing of Belal Muhammad’s exit from UFC 310.
Rakhmonov was scheduled to challenge Muhammad for the welterweight title in the main event at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. However, Muhammad pulled out of the matchup, citing a bone infection that led to severe swelling in his foot.
Rakhmonov has now questioned the recency of Muhammad’s injury. The undefeated Kazakh believes Muhammad’s injury is older than he advertised, as he claims to have heard of the champ training recently. According to “Nomad,” Muhammad could have fought at UFC 310 if he wanted to but chose to exercise more caution.
“From what I heard and what I know, he got injuries even earlier before it went public,” Rakhmonov recently told Ariel Helwani. “Because I [heard about] him train recently. Maybe he just posted his picture recently, but the problem occurred even earlier. So I think he [would be] able to fight in December, but he wasn’t just sure and [was] just being extra careful for that.”
Shavkat Rakhmonov thinks that Belal Muhammad could have fought at #UFC310, but pulled out because he wanted to be “extra careful”
@arielhelwani #HelwaniShowpic.twitter.com/jO4IVOo25u
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 4, 2024
Rakhmonov has now called for a short-notice interim title shot against former champ Kamaru Usman (20-4) to save the card.
“I believe there is worthy opponent available,” Rakhmanov said. “I’m ready to save the card too if it’s for the interim belt. And I believe Usman is a [worthy] opponent who’ll also probably want to be ready to jump in to face me.”
Rakhmonov’s manager, Sayat Abdrakhmanov, also confirmed that the UFC is definitely in negotiations with Usman for the fight as well.
“Yeah, right now negotiations going on and obviously there’s talking,” Abdrakhmanov said. “I don’t know if they are talking to someone else but I’m sure they offered to Kamaru too.”
Shavkhat Rakhmonov hopes to fight Kamaru Usman for an interim welterweight title at UFC 310. Negotiations are ongoing to keep Rakhmonov on the December card according to his manager, Sayat Abdrakhmanov. pic.twitter.com/HSXhgCoyCT
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 4, 2024
