Media Rakhmonov Open to Welcoming Gastelum Back to Welterweight

[Blastbeat]

strange call out by someone who would destroy gastelum at this point. maybe shavkat is just bored, no one else is available to fight, but IMO he should be going for the jugular of the elite, not calling out yesteryears gastelum. i'm guessing shavkat is just really bored. shavkat vs kamzat, why not? if kamzhat doesn't fight usman, then one of those three, should fight each other. kamzhat usman would be fun.

Kelvin's a bigger name with a damn good chin who is usually in exciting fights. i would pick Shavkat 100%, but it would still be a banger for as long as it lasted. i think Shav might either submit him or take a decision. i dont know if anyone can knock Kelvin out.

I didn't see Kelvin's last fight, but he's dangerous. Meaning that you can't make too many mistakes with him, you need to be defensively responsible. No slugging it out like against Geoff Neal. Meanwhile, Kelvin is allowed to make mistakes because of his iron chin.

Man, I gotta give a ton of respect to Shavkat, he's turning out to be more "I keel everybody" than Khamzat. He's earning his way.

i totally agree. always the more subdued and quiet fighters that turn out to be killers. Khamzat hasnt fought in a while but Shav is just silently grinding away building up a win streak. i like his personality better too; he's not chomping at the bit constantly. more of a reserved confidence.

 

[B0mbSquad]

I didn't see Kelvin's last fight, but he's dangerous. Meaning that you can't make too many mistakes with him, you need to be defensively responsible. No slugging it out like against Geoff Neal. Meanwhile, Kelvin is allowed to make mistakes because of his iron chin.

Man, I gotta give a ton of respect to Shavkat, he's turning out to be more "I keel everybody" than Khamzat. He's earning his way.

Neal would probably beat Gastelum

 

[Fact Checker]

Would be a step back for Shavkat, he’s ready for a title eliminator. Maybe even a title shot.

 

[warriorfan808]

I’d like to see Kelvin fight a tune up fight first.

 

[Gamboal]

Let's see if Rakhmanov can get in four fights between Khamzat's last fight and his one in October.

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

Shavkat called out Belal and Burns, UFC tried to make Belal vs Shavkat happen but Belal essentially refused and Burns vs Belal then happened. Shavkat has been calling out Khamzat forever, doesn't like him..but that fight won't happen either, Khamzat isn't even fighting. Shavkat also asked for Colby but the UFC gave him the Leon fight. Shavkat said he'd love to fight Usman, Usman showed no interest. Shavkat wanted to fight Thompson, the UFC tried to arrange it and Thompson refused.

Right now, Shavkat is in no man's land. Leon fights Colby end of this year and then Belal probably February-is. Shavkat can't get a title shot until a year from now, nobody ahead of him is willing or able.

Usman

 

[Safton]

I'm not opposed to it if Kelvin agrees to it. I generally like giving fighters their call-outs if the other party is amenable (within reason). Just makes matchmaking and promotion that much easier. It's actually a big opportunity for Kelvin on-paper, honestly. Oftentimes when a ranked guy transitions to a new weight class they're lucky to fight someone of equivalent standing and instead they essentially end up "exchanging" some of their native rank to fight down just a bit, i.e. #1 former title challenger ends up at fighting someone in the lower Top 5 at their new weight class. Instead, Kelvin is getting the opportunity to go from #11 at Middleweight where he's been 2-5 since earning his interim title shot... to fighting #6 an undefeated Welterweight with massive hype behind him.

I would certainly favor Shavkat, but crazily enough Gastelum is still only 31 years old. I wouldn't be overly surprised to see him make some changes in his camp, drop to Welterweight in a healthy manner and look revitalized. If he does, I could see him offering Rakhmonov a few problems. Shavkat was very willing to play Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots with Geoff Neal and ate a lot of nasty shots in that fight, but came out on top. He also hasn't really put much of his wrestling -- offensive or defensive -- on display at the UFC level yet.

If Gastelum doesn't want that fight (and I wouldn't blame him), there's maybe a couple of options depending on exactly when he's making his debut at 170.

 

[Buckland]

How long is it going to take Kelvin to get his weight down to where he can even fight at 170? I wanna see Shavkat fight before 2025...

 

[NicholasJBasile]

The unbeaten UFC welterweight contender expressed his interest in the potential matchup when he quote Tweeted Gastelum (18-8 MMA, 12-8 UFC) on Tuesday.

“Should I be the one to welcome Kelvin back to 170?” Rakhmonov wrote on Twitter while tagging UFC president Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby.

…sounds like a fun “welcome back to welterweight” fight for Gastelum… I’ll take Rak on this one though..
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That's pretty generous of Rakhmanov, but I feel he's far ahead of Gastelum. I guess if he isn't going to get a title shot any time soon, however, there isn't many others who make more sense besides maybe Belal.