It is well known that Dana White gets amped for big fights and huge announcements. His words hype up the MMA community as well. A new UFC documentary captured the UFC CEO animatedly pitching a hugely intriguing matchup. This came in the form of Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kamaru Usman.
Fight Inc: Inside the UFC is a three-part series that will debut exclusively on the Roku streaming platform. A snippet of the docu-series showed matchmakers telling Dana White that Kamaru Usman and Shavkat Rakhmonov’s fight was still a thing of interest. Another person informed him of Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, dining in the building. White takes off and runs to the kitchen to make the pitch.
Shavkat vs. Usman in Abu Dhabi.
Dana White via Fight Inc: Inside the UFC
Dana White enthusiastically laid the pitch for the fight in the presence of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Kamaru Usman’s manager, Abdelaziz. Abdelaziz countered White’s proposal with one of his own. He revealed that Usman vs. Stephen Thompson was a better fight and one that Usman wanted.
To this, Dana White condescendingly replied, referring to Thompson’s canceled fight against Michel Pereira. Ultimately, the fight never materialized as Thompson went on to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Kamaru Usman fought Khamzat Chimaev. Maybe the future will pit these two elite fighters together.
Kamaru Usman agreed to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov under one condition
The MMA world was buzzing about a tantalizing fantasy matchup last year. At one point, the dominant wrestling force, Kamaru Usman, almost faced the relentless up-and-coming fighter Shavkat Rakhmonov. But Usman had laid down one non-negotiable condition for making this fight a reality.
Kamaru Usman not interested in fighting Shavkat Rakhmonov (via MMA Fighting)Usman was present at the Q&A before UFC 290. He was asked about a potential fight against the Kazakh phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov. Usman stated he was not interested in fighting down the rankings for a title shot.
Yeah, it’s a fight I would take for the title. I mean that’s the thing is at the end of the day every man wants to be the champion… So who am I to deny him when I’m the champion? But if it’s not for the championship and we happen to train with the exact same coach, like … why? What’s the point?
Kamaru Uaman at UFC 290 Q&A
The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ doubled down, making his stance crystal clear. At this stage, any matchup must have legitimate championship stakes attached or at least even title eliminator implications. The proclamation injected an intriguing wrinkle into potential Usman-Rakhmonov negotiations. It did not happen in 2023, but has a chance of happening if there is a #1 contenders implication involved.
