Shavkat Rakhmonov improved his undefeated record to 16 with a win against Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 57

UFC welterweight division is witnessing a revolution currently, with some fresh blood of dominant fighters who are making their stamp on the sport. Prominent amongst those is Shavkat Rakhmonov who faced his biggest challenge so far against the experienced veteran, Neil Magny.

In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 57, Shavkat Rakhmonov continued to embark on his brilliant undefeated run, and extended his record to 16-0. With this submission victory against a top ranked fighter like Neil Magny, Shavkat now has 16 finishes in his 16 fights. He utilized his wrestling to takedown Magny, established dominant top and side control for the entirety of first round. Magny defended extremely well from the bottom showing tons of experience, even managing to land few good up kicks.

The second round proceeded similarly, but with less than 10 seconds left in the round, Magny tried to scramble back to his feet, which left his neck open. Shavkat jumped on the opportunity, and sunk in a tight guillotine, forcing a tap from Magny in the closing seconds. The undefeated fighter called out Stephen Thompson for his next fight.

Shavkat Rakhmonov details what’s next for him

Following the impressive victory, Rakhmonov took center stage to call out another veteran of the sport, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson during his post fight interview with Michael Bisping. But he had some other names in his mind too. “I had a good grip, I was confident in it, but since there was little time left, I was expecting Neil to defend it,” Rakhmonov said. “But maybe after two rounds of beating, he didn’t want to continue. But usually, with this grip, I take seven or eight seconds to put someone to sleep.”

Speaking to the media after his victory, the Kazakh said that he’s not rushing into a return, and wants to evaluate his options. “I’m not going to rush,” Rakhmonov told reporters through an interpreter at the UFC on ESPN 38 post-fight news conference. “I’m going to take my time and rest and assess everything with my team. But the names I want to face are Stephen Thompson, Nick Diaz, (Jorge) Masvidal. Let’s go.”

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