Las Vegas, NV – UFC welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal put on a show at UFC 285, but Rakhmonov came out victorious after finishing his opponent via submission on Saturday night.
Rakhmonov (17-0) finished Neal with a standing rear naked choke of sorts which was impressive due to how they were standing on the fence when he sunk the choke in and forced the tap.
“I didn’t really think about that you know I was thinking that I have to get him out of there in any way so I’m happy,” Rakhmonov told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator at his post-fight scrum.
“You know it’s a fight. I believe I could have performed better. I’m happy that I won, but it’s a very tough opponent. Very good opponent.”
Neal missed weight by four pounds at Friday morning’s official weigh-ins resulting in a 30% fine to his purse that went to Rakhmonov, but the fight went ahead as planned.
“You know it wasn’t just a little 300, 400 grams. It was four pounds. Was a heavy miss. I wanted to fight. I came to Las Vegas, not for vacation, I wanted to fight to get the fight done,” he said.
In his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan ‘Nomad’ threw out a couple of names for his next fight including Colby Covington.
“First I want to get rest. After a fight like that I’m in no rush. Ramadan months ahead of us, but saying that title fight in Abu Dhabi would be great you know. It would be great for my country,” said Rakhmonov.
With Rakhmonov remaining undefeated and many fighters declining a bout with the contender it wouldn’t be surprising to see him fight for the title sooner than later.
Watch the rest of Shavkat Rakhmonov’s post-fight scrum above.
