Did Rakhmonov's latest fight disrupt UFC's plans? The Kazakh fighter remained steadfast in his stance.

On December 8, Las Vegas (Nevada) will host the next fight of the undefeated fighter (18-0). The 30-year-old Kazakhstani will face 27-year-old Irish prospect (15-0). In the current division ranking, Shavkat holds the third position, while Ian is in seventh. The correspondent explains how this matchup became the only option available for the "Nomad."

Initially, Rakhmonov was set to fight for the undisputed championship and headline the event. However, five weeks before the event, the champion (24-3-0-1) was sidelined, leaving the Kazakhstani without an opponent.

For over two weeks, everyone was waiting to see who would be Rakhmonov's next opponent and whether he would even keep the fight on December 8. Various names were mentioned, and there was much discussion, but ultimately Shavkat was given the undefeated Garry.

Garry also had a previously scheduled fight fall through. A week after Shavkat's bout, Ian was supposed to face (20-6) in the main event of a non-title tournament. However, in the end, the UFC "reshuffled all the cards" - Garry became Shavkat's opponent, and (17-4) will now fight Buckley.

While Shavkat and his fans awaited good news regarding the fight, everyone anticipated an announcement of his matchup either with (20-4) or with Covington. Fans were hoping for the possibility of a fight for the interim title, although this seemed unlikely. After all, Muhammad was not out for long and had fought relatively recently.

However, despite all the chatter and bold statements from Kamaru and Colby, their fight with Shavkat was not scheduled. The Kazakhstani publicly expressed disappointment with all the top fighters in his division, as no one dared to put pen to paper on a contract.

Interestingly, Colby, who seemingly did not want to fight Shavkat on December 8, readily accepted a bout on December 15 against Buckley, who is ranked ninth.

So why did a fight against Usman or Covington not materialize? It makes sense to believe that the status of the bout played a role. The promotion did not consider the option of introducing an interim championship title, which was likely a key factor for former champion Usman and former interim champion Covington.

Time was running out, and the UFC decided to save the fight for Shavkat by pitting him against Garry. The Irishman had received a fight with Buckley, but not long before that, he had challenged the Kazakhstani. Therefore, he should be pleased to be fighting a top-3 fighter.

It's unlikely we would be mistaken in assuming that ideally, the matchmakers would have wanted to arrange a bout between Shavkat and Garry in a couple of years when both would be even higher in the rankings and remain undefeated. But with no other options available, the league's plans were disrupted. Rakhmonov was not going to go through an entire camp and put in hard weeks of preparation in the U.S. for nothing, and he demanded a fight.

Garry is one of the most dangerous prospects in the welterweight division. Together, he and Shavkat have a combined record of 33-0, and this will be a monumental event for the entire division. There are only 20 days left until the fight. The most interesting part lies ahead.

Vesti.kz, Turar Kazangapov©️