UFC Vegas 57 Fighter to Watch: Shavkat Rakhmonov

Unbeaten and surging welterweight takes on Top 10 fixture Neil Magny in Saturday's co-main event

Name: Shavkat Rakhmonov
Nickname: Nomad
Record: 15-0 overall; 3-0 UFC
Division: Welterweight
Team: Sanford MMA
Opponent: Neil Magny (26-8 overall, 19-7 UFC)

Generally speaking, I like to select fighters a little further down the fight card for this series, but I’m making an exception here because this is likely going to be the last chance anyone has to get on the Rakhmonov bandwagon and I don’t want to hear anyone saying I didn’t tell them they should grab a seat while they were still available.

And look, you shouldn’t really need me telling you to pay attention to this dude that has already posted three stoppage wins in the UFC and has been talked up by smart people since he first arrived on the biggest stage in the sport, but there is bound to be someone that wants to play the “… but he was fighting on the prelims” or “… yeah, but who’d he fight?” cards to excuse their laziness (even though they watch all the cards) so this is what we’re doing.

So let’s do it.

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Rakhmonov possesses all the things you tend to look for when trying to identify the best of the best on the way up the divisional ladder:

• good size and reach for his weight category

• sparkling record on the regional circuit facing reasonably competitive opposition, including future UFC MW Junyoung Park

• outstanding Natan Levy Number* (+20) against opponents with a combined 110-40-6 record when they fought

• works with strong team and training partners (at least to finish out camp)

• tremendous first impression in the UFC

• continued dominance in further UFC appearances

I’m not one that gets particularly hung up on fighters being undefeated because I think loads of young competitors make bad choices or are simply too inexperienced early in their careers to hold early setbacks against them.

What I do value, as you know, is when fighters go on lengthy winning streaks like the one Rakhmonov carried throughout his time prior to reaching the UFC and has maintained since touching down in the Octagon. The fact that all of his wins have come by way of stoppage makes it extra impressive and even more of a big, flashing sign that says, “Pay Close Fucking Attention to This Guy!” for me, because not only is avoiding mistakes and catching a random loss difficult in that many fights, that fact there isn’t a single trip to the scorecards in there only ups the ante.

I talked about Kevin Holland beating Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira in his welterweight debut on yesterday’s podcast and mentioned how I didn’t think people had the same reaction when Rakhmonov beat him in even more dominant fashion in his promotional debut. For me, it was a major “Holy Shit!” moment because you don’t walk into the UFC and steamroll a veteran with as much experience and savvy as Alex Oliveira in under a round in your first Octagon appearance unless you are the genuine article.

The wins over Michel Prazares and Carlston Harris are slightly less OMG for me, but reiterate the immediate takeaways from his win over Oliveira and further validate the advanced billing, because — and I want to say this one more time so that it really sinks in for people — you don’t rack up this many consecutive victories (and stoppages for that matter) against very good competition if you’re just some dude.

This isn’t luck. This isn’t a string of good nights. This isn’t taking advantage of mediocre competition.

Rakhmonov is a world-class talent and he’s been showing that throughout his career, and I think anyone that hasn’t been convince yet is going to be convinced on Saturday night.

* * * * *

I love this fight for the surging welterweight because Magny is the perfect litmus test for someone like Rakhmonov at this point in his progression up the divisional ladder.

Magny has headlined shows, sports an outstanding record inside the Octagon (19-7), and is the type of experienced, skilled, seasoned veteran that knows who he is inside the cage, fights to his strengths, and makes you work for every inch you get. He’s been finished a handful of times, but since those first two UFC setbacks, he’s only lost to ranked competition, which means we know exactly how much weight a victory over him this weekend would carry for Rakhmonov and what it would say about his prospects in the division.

And I also think it’s a favourable matchup for the 27-year-old “Nomad” as well.

Magny thrives on being able to stick and move, working behind his long, crisp jab with the benefit of a bottomless gas tank. When he needs to or wants to, he can also be effective in the clinch, utilizing good control to grind time off the clock, hit trips and foot sweeps, and do quality work on the canvas as well.

Magny is an excellent fighter and deserves more credit and recognition for his accomplishments than he receives.

The thing that works against Magny, however, is that he’s not really a power threat, and so in instances where opponents simply accept they’re going to get hit in order to get inside and disrupt everything he wants to do, they tend to have greater success. Additionally, we’ve seen Magny hurt/stunned on a few different occasions, in addition to the times he’s been finished, and while he’s navigated some bad spots and does a good job of buying himself time to collect his wits, Rakhmonov isn’t the kind of fighter that is going to give him room to breathe if he gets him hurt.

Magny still has a reach advantage this weekend, but it’s not as pronounced as it is in many matchups, and I don’t see Rakhmonov being particularly worried about working inside and taking a couple shots in order to connect with his own strikes and dictate the terms of engagement. While that’s just my working hypothesis, I can’t wait to see how it holds up in application on Saturday.

* * * * *

Welterweight is in an interesting place at the moment, with a few veteran names holding onto spots in the Top 15 and a mix of tenured fighters still looking to work forward and ascending newcomers filling out the rest of the rankings.

There are loads of intriguing matchup possibilities if everyone was just game for a fight, but I think between many only wanting to “fight forward” and others looking to avoid certain competitors (understandably), things might remain a little bogged down and sluggish before they get moving more fluidly again either later this year or early next year.

Regardless, I think Rakhmonov is going to be a fixture in the Top 10 starting very soon, and a guy that we could very well see challenging for championship gold in the next 2-3 years.

I think he’s that good, and that you need to pay close attention to him this weekend and every time he fights from here on out.

* Natan Levy Number: an MMA formula where you tabulate the combined records of an emerging fighter’s opponents following their meeting in order to get a greater understanding of the level of competition said newcomer faced on their way to the big stage. The better the record, the better the competition, in theory. Levy was the first fighter I did this for, so it’s named in his honour.