With UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad withdrawing from his scheduled UFC 310 title fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov, several 170lb contenders have put their names in the hat for a potential interim title fight.
Belal Muhammad was set to make the first defense of his welterweight title reign this coming December at UFC 310, when he was supposed to take on undefeated contender, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Despite that, ‘Remember The Name’ unfortunately withdrew from his title defense after suffering a broken toe and a subsequent bone infection, leaving Rakhmonov without an opponent.
Ian Machado Garry and Kamaru Usman call for UFC 310 interim title shot
After Muhammad won the title, there were question marks around who he would defend the title against first as both ‘The Nomad’ and former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman seemed to attract the champion’s attention.
However, with Muhammad now out, Rakhmonov hopes to stay on the December 7 card and is hopeful of fighting for an interim title.
Number seven-ranked welterweight Ian Machado Garry has called for the interim title fight against Rakhmonov, and posted a clip on his social media of him historically talking about the Kazakh.
Immediately after his UFC 303 win against Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Garry admitted he wants to be the first man to take Shavkat’s 0 and explained how the two have previously trained together.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has also thrown his name in the hat, though, despite coming off the back of three losses in a row. The 37-year-old posted on X eye emojis with a winking emoji following the news.
Joaquin Buckley responds to Garry’s call for interim title shot with a call of his own
Responding to ‘The Future’ Garry’s video calling for the interim title fight on social media, soaring 170lb contender, Joaquin Buckley claimed that the fans don’t want to see the undefeated Irishman fight for the title as they want knockouts.
“Ay look, I’m gonna let you finish but I got something to say. Nobody wants to see that fight, people wanna see knockouts, people wanna see finishes and that’s exactly what I bring. Me vs Shavkat, he’s got 18 finishes and your boy, I got 14 knockouts and I just knocked out my last two ranked opponents.
“So what do you think I’m gonna do to this dude? UFC, this is the fight that you’ve got to make, I’m coming to take the throne and I ain’t playing,” Buckley claimed.
Buckley’s last win came against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson when he knocked him out in emphatic fashion at UFC 307, extending his impressive win streak to five in a row.
It is unclear as of now whether the promotion is looking to implement an interim title at UFC 310, or if they will explore the possibility of an entirely different main event.
- STRANGE FEUD: Derrick Lewis goes in on ‘scumbag’ Daniel Cormier in bizarre UFC Edmonton interview, confused Cormier responds