Joaquin Buckley believes Shavkat Rakhmonov would get “exposed” in potential UFC title fight with Belal Muhammad

Joaquin Buckley believes Shavkat Rakhmonov would get exposed in a UFC world title fight against Belal Muhammad.

Over the course of the last few years, Shavkat Rakhmonov has made some real noise in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The unbeaten 18-0 sensation has finished all 18 of his fights, and he’s gone 6-0 in the promotion thus far. As you can imagine, there’s been a great deal of talk surrounding him possibly getting the next shot at the UFC welterweight championship.

RELATED: Belal Muhammad targets Shavkat Rakhmonov for first title defense despite Kamaru Usman talk: “He has more aura”

Up to this point, though, nothing has been confirmed. Another man who eventually wants a crack at the gold is Joaquin Buckley, who returns to the cage at UFC 307 to battle Stephen Thompson.

In a recent interview, Buckley questioned just how good Rakhmonov actually is.

Buckley questions Rakhmonov

“First off, I’ve shouted out that Shavkat has never been as good as people claim,” Buckley told Inside Fighting. “The reason I say that with so much confidence is because when he had the opportunity to fight me, he didn’t take it. When the (Jack Della Maddalena) fight pulled out for him, I told him I will be willing to fight him in the same place, on the same date he was going to fight JDM and he declined. Guys don’t realize you cannot wait on an opportunity to get a title. You have to just keep putting in work – because the UFC makes those decisions, you don’t.

“Let’s say I fought Shavkat and he happened to win and beat me. Boom: Easy. No doubt, right there they probably would have gave it to him, but because he knew there was a risk that I’ve beat the majority of his teammates that he trains with, that yes, that we’ve got the number on the whole Kill Cliff clan over there. So I just don’t think Shavkat is as good as people claim. But you know, I feel like he definitely going to get exposed eventually. If that’s not by me, that’s definitely going to be by Belal.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

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