Shavkat Rakhmonov not buying Belal Muhammad’s recovery time following infection: “I don’t believe it’s gonna be six weeks”
Shavkat Rakhmonov isn’t sold on Belal Muhammad fully recovering in six weeks.
Muhammad was scheduled to put his welterweight gold on the line against Rakhmonov in the main event of UFC 310 on December 7th. “Remember The Name” ended up suffering a bone infection in his foot, derailing plans to have one more fight before the end of 2024.
While Rakhmonov has called for an interim title fight, Muhammad scoffs at the idea. The 170-pound king says he will be ready in six weeks, but “Nomad” doesn’t believe that will be the case.
Shavkat Rakhmonov Still Not Buying Belal Muhammad’s Recovery Time Frame
Appearing on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Shavkat Rakhmonov responded to the notion that an interim title fight won’t be necessary.
“Yeah, I don’t believe it’s gonna be six weeks, to be honest,” Rakhmonov said through a translator. “I believe Jack Della had the same problem with infection and he’s still not back. So, it can take awhile and Belal don’t need to be greedy. If I become interim champ, he’s still gonna have a belt too, you know? It’s gonna be champ vs. champ, even bigger fight.”
Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has thrown his name in the hat as a possible opponent for Rakhmonov. Whether or not the UFC will go the interim route for its year-end pay-per-view remains to be seen.
Rumors claiming that the promotion was looking at Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev for the new UFC 310 main event were shut down by several reports. We’ll keep you posted on what the plan will be for UFC 310.
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