Joaquin Buckley thinks Belal Muhammad can beat, submit Shavkat Rakhmonov

Shavkat Rakhmonov’s recent five-round unanimous decision victory over Ian Machado Garry earned him the next shot at Belal Muhammad’s UFC welterweight title, however, another rising 170-pounder was unconvinced by the performance.

Joaquin Buckley is set to headline the UFC’s final event of 2024 when he takes on the polarizing Colby Covington in Saturday’s Fight Night main event and the streaking contender is aiming to pick up a highlight-reel finish to leapfrog Rakhmonov near the top of the welterweight division.

Buckley called Rakhmonov’s UFC 310 win “boring” when speaking with reporters in Florida on Wednesday and said he thought both Rakhmonov and Machado Garry would’ve pushed harder to get “a good finish” but the pair ended up going the distance.

Rakhmonov had previously finished all of his opponents prior to getting the judges’ decision over Machado Garry, who was originally slated to face Buckley this weekend but stepped in to face Rakhmonov when Muhammad withdrew from UFC 310 due to an injury-related infection; Covington then stepped up to face Buckley.

Buckley has won five in a row since dropping down from the middleweight division and said that since Rakhmonov failed to add to his stoppage totals, he feels if he can add another highlight knockout to his résumé it’ll be possible for him to skip the line and get the next shot at Muhammad.

The 30-year-old also suggested that Rakhmonov is somewhat injury-prone. The star from Kazakhstan has only fought twice over the past 21 months and Daniel Cormier reported after UFC 310 that Rakhmonov was possibly dealing with a knee injury leading up to the fight with Machado Garry.

When asked for his prediction about a Muhammad vs. Rakhmonov matchup, Buckley didn’t hesitate to side with the champ.

“Not only am I going with Belal, I think Belal can get a finish in this one via submission,” Buckley said.

A win over a name and former interim titleholder like Covington would get Buckley one step closer to the title conversation, but in order for the UFC to even consider him for the next title shot he knows he’d need to pull off something spectacular.

“I can’t just go out there and get my hand raised by a split decision, then I don’t want it, but if I go out there and do what I do, get a good knockout of the year, then ya I’m taking my belt,” Buckley added. “I’m expecting the best version of Colby but I feel like even the best version is no match for me.”