Media Shavkat Rakhmonov annoyed by Khamzat Chimaev comparisons

[KazDibiase]

“It’s just annoying, getting reminded of a certain individual all the time,” he said in an interview following his win. “I’m saying wait, we’ll see when the time comes. He will win some fights, I will win some fights. And then we’ll meet. Maybe our fight will be title bout at that point.”

Oh Khazmat vs Burns

“I don’t know, I think it’s a good fight for Chimaev,” Shavkat said. “It’s a necessary one for him, because he wants to get to the top fast. If Chimaev wins, he gets there. If Burns wins, he’s still in kind of a losing position....”

 

[HHJ]

 

[ejazahmednit]

That take on Khamzat-Burns fallout is so accurate
Burns has cojones of solid stone

 

[Versez]

i think eventually chimaev and shavlat will meet, i cant wait to see it.

 

[Gio]

He kinda looks like a young Sakuraba. Another reason why it's not hard to like him.

 

[tritestill]

The Just Bleed God awaits

 

[JustOnce]

I'd cry if they make Shavkat vs Brady next.

They tried to make Evloev vs Topuria, Shore vs Usman, all undefeated.


Brady/Shavkat/Khamzat/Amosov, future for WW in MMA is for sure bright, hopefully they don't pit them against each other too soon.

 

[phillystyleswag]

It's interesting how much hype Chimaev has compared to Shavkat. I would love to see that fight

 

[LoveMyMMA]

It's interesting how much hype Chimaev has compared to Shavkat. I would love to see that fight

it's fascinating what having big mouth can do for you in this sport

 

[Safton]

I'd cry if they make Shavkat vs Brady next.

They tried to make Evloev vs Topuria, Shore vs Usman, all undefeated.


Brady/Shavkat/Khamzat/Amosov, future for WW in MMA is for sure bright, hopefully they don't pit them against each other too soon.

Yeah I'm not huge on pitting prospects against one another either -- especially undefeated ones -- until the title eliminator stage or so. I realize that's a very controversial stance around here with some people, but it is what it is.

IMO there's more than enough dudes to pair Shavkat with. If they want to give him another fight against someone just outside the Top 15 (i.e. a "ranking eliminator") then there's Niko Price, Elizeu Zaleski, Khaos Williams, Alex Morono, Tim Means, Randy Brown, Daniel Rodriguez, and Michel Pereira. Some of those are certainly stiffer and more compelling challenges than others.

That being said, I'd argue he's done enough to earn a ranked opponent. Ponz or Leech would be good. Maybe Salikhov whenever he returns. Chiesa would be about as high in the rankings as I'd go with him, but then again they just gave Magny to give to Max fucking Griffin so who knows?

 

[SwagJuice]

it's fascinating what having big mouth can do for you in this sport

Well, the man is a beast too.

 

[heavyarms21]

I'd cry if they make Shavkat vs Brady next.

They tried to make Evloev vs Topuria, Shore vs Usman, all undefeated.


Brady/Shavkat/Khamzat/Amosov, future for WW in MMA is for sure bright, hopefully they don't pit them against each other too soon.

I think either guy should get either Ponz or Jiangliang next since both guys of those guys are coming off of Losses and are outside the top 10 would be a good indicator if both prospects are ready to crossover into being legit contenders.

 

[Iroh]

Gotta make yourself more known then and make your own personality more available to the public. All they see now is just a great rising prospect at WW that's very well rounded and makes it look easy and is from roughly the same part of the world. People don't know much more. But he should definitely learn English if he wants to create more of an own image in the media.

 

[JustOnce]

Yeah I'm not huge on pitting prospects against one another either -- especially undefeated ones -- until the title eliminator stage or so. I realize that's a very controversial stance around here with some people, but it is what it is.

IMO there's more than enough dudes to pair Shavkat with. I'd argue he's done enough to earn a ranked opponent. Ponz or Leech would be good. Maybe Salikhov whenever he returns. Chiesa would be about as high in the rankings as I'd go with him, but then again they just gave Magny to give to Max fucking Griffin so who knows?

Yeaeh but at the same time, it IS kinda weak Brady is wanting to face WB when he was calling out thee winner of WB/Belal lol, but yeah Brady/Khamzat/Shavkat are all legit, I do hope they keep them seperate for a while.

I mean, one day UFC decided to make up their own stupid rankings, but I mean, it's really made up anyways, lol, so whatever works works, ranked opponents or not, but just prefer them not facing each other this early, I like them both lol, but I mean, there should be enough opponents to go around for all of them ranked or not, I do guess tho....they could duck them....hate how some people use rankings to duck people...

But really, wasn't a fan of Usman/Shore nor Topuria/Evloev, but they just give no fucks sometimees

 

[JustOnce]

I think either guy should get either Ponz or Jiangliang next since both guys of those guys are coming off of Losses and are outside the top 10 would be a good indicator if both prospects are ready to crossover into being legit contenders.

Imagine if Jiangliang gets Brady then Shavkat in a row, Khamzat, Brady then Shavkat. lmao

JiangLiang is ranked high enough so maybe lol, ranked at 13, so very possible for Shavkat, maybe not as likely for Brady, but can you imagine lol

 

[Safton]

Yeaeh but at the same time, it IS kinda weak Brady is wanting to face WB when he was calling out thee winner of WB/Belal lol, but yeah Brady/Khamzat/Shavkat are all legit, I do hope they keep them seperate for a while.

I mean, one day UFC decided to make up their own stupid rankings, but I mean, it's really made up anyways, lol, so whatever works works, ranked opponents or not, but just prefer them not facing each other this early, I like them both lol, but I mean, there should be enough opponents to go around for all of them ranked or not, I do guess tho....they could duck them....hate how some people use rankings to duck people...

Oh I totally agree, I actually said in a separate thread that I hate the idea of Brady fighting Wonderboy. While by no means do I think Wonderboy should get special treatment or be "protected" from grapplers, I can acknowledge that the fight would be a foregone conclusion and not tell us anything about Brady while not giving Thompson any chance to build himself back up. I just don't like the idea of undefeated prospects fighting one another, either. If it means waiting to see some fights get resolved before people get matched up, that's fine by me personally.

I get it. I know a lot of people don't put any stock in the rankings and understandably so, but I still do (perhaps unwisely). Otherwise it's just a lawless clusterfuck to me with the amount of fighters the UFC has on the payroll these days. In any case, I feel like any of those fighters moves him up in the division and are decent tests for him without fucking things up is all.

 

[JustOnce]

Oh I totally agree, I actually said in a separate thread that I hate the idea of Brady fighting Wonderboy. While by no means do I think Wonderboy should get special treatment or be "protected" from grapplers, I can acknowledge that the fight would be a foregone conclusion and not tell us anything about Brady while not giving Thompson any chance to build himself back up. I just don't like the idea of undefeated prospects fighting one another, either. If it means waiting to see some fights get resolved before people get matched up, that's fine by me personally.

I get it. I know a lot of people don't put any stock in the rankings and understandably so, but I still do (perhaps unwisely). Otherwise it's just a lawless clusterfuck to me with the amount of fighters the UFC has on the payroll these days. In any case, I feel like any of those fighters moves him up in the division and are decent tests for him without fucking things up is all.

Yeah, it's just weak to me when literally was calling out thee WINNER of WB/Belal, and he did 360 lol, makes no sense wtf lol. Who does that lol, but yeah I'm sure Brady was drooling out of his mouth watching Belal/Burns vs WB, if not having an orgasm. I'm really high on Brady, but man, it'd be epic if WB knocks him out with spinning kick if they make that fight since UFC does whatever they want, not big fan of guys looking out for easy fights, I mean WB is a great, great fighter yes, but given how the last two fights went, I'd imagine WB would be a massive underdog, and Brady knows it.

Well, I mean, rankings do get people closer to the title, so i'm sure it matters, but I never cared for rankings. Nor some of their made up stats. One day UFC decided to shit them out, but never cared much, kinda like their hall of fame I guess, feels just made up on a whim one day.

 

[Phisher]

Imagine if Jiangliang gets Brady then Shavkat in a row, Khamzat, Brady then Shavkat. lmao

JiangLiang is ranked high enough so maybe lol, ranked at 13, so very possible for Shavkat, maybe not as likely for Brady, but can you imagine lol

It's happened before. The UFC gave Marcus Brimage every hot prospect at 135 and 145 until he was done.

 

[JustOnce]

It's happened before. The UFC gave Marcus Brimage every hot prospect at 135 and 145 until he was done.

Yeah that's lul I'm sure he was supposed to lose to Blanco too,

But it doesn't even come close to Liang, if they give him Khamzat, Shavkat and Brady in a row lol that would be mega lul.

 

[Safton]

Yeah, it's just weak to me when literally was calling out thee WINNER of WB/Belal, and he did 360 lol, makes no sense wtf lol. Who does that lol, but yeah I'm sure Brady was drooling out of his mouth watching Belal/Burns vs WB, if not having an orgasm. I'm really high on Brady, but man, it'd be epic if WB knocks him out with spinning kick if they make that fight since UFC does whatever they want, not big fan of guys looking out for easy fights, I mean WB is a great, great fighter yes, but given how the last two fights went, I'd imagine WB would be a massive underdog, and Brady knows it.

Well, I mean, rankings do get people closer to the title, so i'm sure it matters, but I never cared for rankings. Nor some of their made up stats. One day UFC decided to shit them out, but never cared much, kinda like their hall of fame I guess, feels just made up on a whim one day.

If I'm being very generous to the guy, the only possible explanation I could think of would be if he was only calling out Wonderboy because Belal is already booked with Luque. The only reason I'm suggesting this is because I saw that Tweet where a fan was questioning him about it and he said something to the effect of "literally only guy available lol" or whatever before deleting it. I don't know if that's true or not because of the timelines involved, but yeah. I agree that the optics of it don't look good, in fact they seem sus as an outsider looking in. It is what it is either way.

I totally get that perspective, but personally I'm a fan of all of that. Without rankings, stats, or a HoF it would feel less like a real, legitimate sport to me. But mind you I'm a relatively recent fan. That being said, I wholeheartedly will acknowledge that the execution of these structures in the UFC leaves a lot to be desired insofar as encouraging meritocracy... but as concepts I like having them around. To each their own, though.