Shavkat Rakhmonov Claims UFC Backed Ilia Topuria’s Rise

Shavkat Rakhmonov is putting forth some strong opinions about his opponents. Currently, the UFC welterweight star is recovering from his knee injury that has kept him out of action for a year. As his comeback comes closer, ‘Nomad’ is opening up about his feelings about UFC’s alleged favoritism. The 31-year-old star recently claimed that Dana White and co. favored Topuria with easy opponents. 

Shavkat Rakhmonov Feels UFC Wanted Ilia Topuria to Stay at the Top

Rakhmonov recently sat down with ALF Global. Shedding light on his career so far, the UFC star also took a shot at the former lightweight champion, Ilia Topuria. The Kazakh superstar mentioned how Topuria was a good speaker on the mic. Thus, it was beneficial for White and his promotion to keep him at the top by feeding ‘El Matador’ with easy opponents. 

Rakhmonov said, “There's Topuria, a UFC star and a good media fighter. They supported him, so it's beneficial for everyone if Topuria is the champion. They gave him convenient opponents."

Topuria dominated the featherweight division before winning the lightweight championship. However, in his last match against Justin Gaethje, the Spaniard got bruised and battered, eventually losing his championship. But ‘El Matador’ does have a chance to redeem himself. 

Ilia Topuria Might Get Second Shot at Justin Gaethje

Topuria vs. Gaethje will remain as one of the brutal fights in recent UFC history. With the Spaniard walking in as the favorite, Gaethje decided to turn the tides big time. Following a violent stand-up exchange, Topuria was deemed medically unfit to continue any further. But as the two-division champion is looking to make a comeback, Jon Anik hinted that there might be a Topuria vs. Gaethje 2 happening. 

“I think there are internal conversations to potentially try to do Gaethje vs. Topuria 2,” Anik said in a recent statement. 

At the moment, nothing has been confirmed. Fans will have to wait a bit longer to find out if Anik’s prediction is correct or not.