Chase Hooper Says Shavkat Rakhmonov Doesn’t Deserve Title Shot

Chase
Hooper thinks Shavkat
Rakhmonov has yet to show he is ready for an
Ultimate Fighting Championship title shot.

Rakhmonov (19-0) was originally offered a welterweight title shot
against Belal
Muhammad at UFC
310 earlier this month before “Remember the Name” pulled out
due to a bone infection. Muhammad was replaced by Ian Garry in
a potential title eliminator against the fellow undefeated
contender.

While Rakhmonov was a massive -290 favourite going into the fight,
+215 underdog Garry gave him a run for his money. Although “Nomad”
roped in a unanimous decision, he struggled to take Garry down
throughout. It was also the first time Rakhmonov went the distance
in 19 career outings.

While Rakhmonov is expected to get the next gold bid at 170 pounds,
Hooper (15-3) believes the Kazakh should pass at least another test
first. According to “The Dream,” Rakhmonov should prove himself
against an elite grappler in the likes of Sean Brady
or Kamaru
Usman, before being offered the title shot.

“We just have never seen him fight a grappler in the UFC at least,”
Hooper recently told James Lynch. “Not a high level one. I guess I
more just want to see that. Just there’s so much hype behind him
right now that I want to see if that’s founded. He’s undefeated for
sure. But let’s see him against a good wrestler. Cause there’s so
many of those at 170. Let’s see him against a Sean Brady, let’s see
him against a [Kamaru] Usman. Before just giving him the shot at
the belt.”

Meanwhile, Hooper also picked up a submission win over Clay Guida at
UFC 310, which put him on a four-fight winning streak with three
finishes.