Shavkat Bakhtibaevich Rakhmonov (born October 23, 1994) is a

Kazakh Kazakh, Qazaq or Kazakhstani may refer to: * Someone or something related to Kazakhstan *Kazakhs, an ethnic group *Kazakh language *The Kazakh Khanate * Kazakh cuisine * Qazakh Rayon, Azerbaijan *Qazax, Azerbaijan *Kazakh Uyezd, administrative dis ...

professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He currently competes in the

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

division in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

(UFC). Rakhmonov is also a former M-1 Global Welterweight Champion. As of February 27, 2023, he is #9 in the UFC welterweight rankings.

Background

Being born in Uzbekistan, Rakhmonov received citizenship of Kazakhstan in 2017. His grandfather's name was Rahman, so while living in a neighboring state, he had to take a surname with a local flavor. His father is a Kazakh of Altynbay tribe and his mother is a Kazakh of Konyrat tribe. Shavkat is from the Altynbai clan of the Junior

Zhuz A ''zhuz'' ( kz, ٴجۇز , Жүз, translit=Jüz, , also translated as " horde") is one of the three main territorial and tribal divisions in the Kypchak Plain area that covers much of the contemporary Kazakhstan. It represents the main tribal d ...

. Shavkat's sister, Sora Rakhmonova, is also a mixed martial artist.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

As an amateur, Rakhmonov won the WMMAA World and Asian Championships titles. Rakhmonov's professional career began in October 2014, debuting with a first round triangle choke victory against Adam Tsurov at M-1 Challenge 52. He would continue fighting mainly under the

M-1 M1, M01 or M-1 may refer to: Arts, entertainment & media * WD-M01 Turn A Gundam, a mecha from the anime ''Turn A Gundam'' * M-1 (rapper), one half of hip hop duo Dead Prez * Korg M1, a keyboard synthesizer * Leica M1, a 1959 35 mm camera mo ...

banner, with seven of his professional fights taking place in the promotion, with the remaining five wins coming in his home country's own MMA organization, Kazakhstan Mixed Martial Arts Federation (KZMMAF). He would alternate back-and-forth between the two organizations, earning his first shot at title as a pro against Faridun Odilov for the KZMMAF welterweight belt. He won the title by third-round TKO. As an 18 years old, Rakhmonov became world champion, in amateur MMA, for WMMAA (World MMA Association) in 2013. In 2014, he became WMMAA's Asian MMA champion. In the same year, he came as a runner-up in WMMAA's World Championship (2014) to Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov. And finally in 2015, Rakhmonv again finished as a runner-up in WMMA World Championship, to Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov. So, Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov is the only person to defeat Rakhmonov in MMA fights, on two separate occasions. Rakhmonov defended his belt in his next fight at Battle of Nomads 11 against Rinat Sayakbaev in December 2018, returning to M-1 at the start of the new year, facing Daniil Prikaza at M-1 Challenge 101 for the vacant M-1 Welterweight Championship. With a second-round TKO stoppage, the Kazakhstani secured his second belt. In his last appearance on the regional scene, Rakhmonov defended his M-1 welterweight title with a first-round stoppage of Tiago Varejão at M-1 Challenge 102.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Rakhmonov was the first Kazakh fighter to sign a contract with the UFC. Rakhmonov was scheduled to face

Bartosz Fabiński Bartosz Ryszard Fabiński (born 26 April 1986) is a Polish mixed martial artist who fights in the Middleweight division. He has formerly competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Background Fabiński was born in Warsaw, Poland. He ...

on March 21, 2020, at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards. However, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

the event was cancelled. Rakhmonov was expected to face Ramazan Emeev on July 26, 2020, at UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till. However, in early July, it was reported that Rakhmonov was forced to pull out due to injury and was replaced by Niklas Stolze. Rakhmonov was scheduled to fight

Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (born November 12, 1986) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. He was the former Jungle Fight welterweight champion in Brazil and currently competes in welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). ...

on October 24, 2020, at

UFC 254 ''UFC 254: Khabib vs. Gaethje'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on October 24, 2020 at the du Forum on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Background The event proceeded ...

. However, Zaleski pulled out due to injury and was replaced by Alex Oliveira. At the weigh-ins, Oliveira weighed in at 173 pounds, two pounds over the welterweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at catchweight and he was fined 20% of his purse, which went to Rakhmonov. Rakhmonov won the fight via guillotine choke submission in the first round. Rakhmonov faced Michel Prazeres at UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Volkov on June 26, 2021. He won the bout via rear-naked choke submission in the second round. Rakhmonov faced

Carlston Harris Carlston Lindsay Harris (born July 9, 1987) is a Guyanese mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Background Having left Guyana in 2007 in search of better job prospects, Harris moved ...

on February 5, 2022, at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Strickland. He won the fight via knockout in round one. This fight earned him the

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

award. As the first bout of his new five-fight contract, Rakhmonov faced

Neil Magny Aoutneil "Neil" Jacques Magny (born August 3, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional MMA competitor since 2010, Magny ...

on June 25, 2022, at

UFC on ESPN 38 ''UFC on ESPN: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot'' (also known as ''UFC on ESPN 38'' and ''UFC Vegas 57'') was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on June 25, 2022, at the UFC Apex facility in Enterpris ...

. He won the fight via a guillotine choke submission in the second round. This win earned him the ''

'' bonus award. Rakhmonov was scheduled to face Geoff Neal on January 14, 2023, at UFC Fight Night: Gastelum vs. Imavov. However, Neal pulled out due to an undisclosed injury and the pair was rescheduled for

UFC 285 ''UFC 285: Jones vs. Gane'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that took place on March 4, 2023, at the T-Mobile Arena facility in Paradise, Nevada, part of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Area, United State ...

on March 4, 2023.

Championships and accomplishments

* World Mixed Martial Arts Association (WMMAA) ** World Championship ** Asian Championship ** World Championship ** World Championship *

(Two times) *

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with othe ...

** M-1 Welterweight Championship (One time) ***One successful title defense *Kazakhstan Mixed Martial Arts Federation **KZMMAF Welterweight Championship (One time) ***One successful title defense

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 16–0 ,

, Submission (guillotine choke) , UFC on ESPN: Tsarukyan vs. Gamrot , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:58 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 15–0 ,

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, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 13–0 , Alex Oliveira , Submission (guillotine choke) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:40 , Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates , , - , Win , align=center, 12–0 , Tiago Varejão , TKO (punches) , M-1 Challenge 102 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:50 ,

Nur-Sultan Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 11–0 , Daniil Prikaza , TKO (punches) , M-1 Challenge 101 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:20 ,

Almaty Almaty (; kk, Алматы; ), formerly known as Alma-Ata ( kk, Алма-Ата), is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of about 2 million. It was the capital of Kazakhstan from 1929 to 1936 as an autonomous republic as part of ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 10–0 , Rinat Sayakbaev , TKO (retirement) , KZMMAF: Battle of Nomads 11 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Taldıqorğan Taldykorgan ( kk, Талдықорған/Taldyqorğan; russian: Талдыкорган), known as ''Taldy-Kurgan'' until 1993, is the capital (called an administrative center) of Zhetysu Region, Kazakhstan. According to the 2010 Kazakh Census Resu ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 9–0 , Faridun Odilov , TKO (punches) , KZMMAF: Battle of Nomads 10 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 3:03 ,

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 , Levan Solodovnik , Submission (triangle choke) , M-1 Challenge 87 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:42 ,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 , Jun Yong Park , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KZMMAF: Battle of Nomads 9 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 1:51 ,

Hwasun Hwasun County (화순군; ''Hwasun-gun'') is a county in South Jeolla Province, South Korea. Symbol * County Flower : Wild Chrysanthemum * County Tree : Zelkova ''Zelkova'' (from Georgian ''dzelkva'', 'stone pillar') is a genus of six speci ...

, South Korea , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Marcelo Brito , KO (punch to the body) , M-1 Challenge 67 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 , Baku, Azerbaijan , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Adil Boranbayev , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KZMMAF: Battle of Nomads 7 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:51 ,

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Michał Wiencek , Submission (guillotine choke) , M-1 Challenge 59 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:49 ,

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Bartosz Chyrek , KO (punches) , M-1 Challenge 57 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:51 , Orenburg, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Marcus Vinicios , TKO (punches) , KZMMAF: Battle of Nomads 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:58 ,

, Kazakhstan , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Adam Tsurov , Submission (triangle choke) , M-1 Challenge 52 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A ,

Nazran , ''Näsare'') is the largest city in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia. It served as the republic's capital in 1991–2000, until it was replaced with Magas, which was specially built for this purpose. It is the most populous city in the republ ...

, Russia ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rakhmonov, Shavkat 1994 births Living people Kazakhstani male mixed martial artists Welterweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters Kazakhstani sambo practitioners