The UFC Welterweight division is easily one of the most exciting divisions in all of the UFC. Seventh-ranked Geoff "Hands of Steel" Neal is set to fight ninth-ranked Shavkat "Nomad" Rakhmonov. Geoff Neal is currently on a two-fight win streak with wins over Vicent Luque and Santiago Ponzinibbio. If you didn't know already why they call Geoff "Hands of Steel" the win over Luque told you why. Neal just pounded Vicinte's face until he could no longer stand. It was kind of ugly. Shavkat, on the other hand, has never lost. He has a professional MMA record of 16-0. In fact, Shavkat has exactly eight wins by knockout and eight wins via submission. Rakhmonov's last win was against Neil Magny, Geoff's last loss.
That doesn't really mean much as we have seen in the UFC anyone can win on any given day. With that said, it is still really hard to see Shavkat lose. Partially because it literally has never happened. There are several people out there who believe Shavkat should already be fighting for the Welterweight title. "If Rakhmonov is sixteen-and-O and can beat everybody then put him the goddamn world championship, give the right guy the world title." Chael Sonnen said this yesterday via the MMA Hour in a sit-down conversation with Ariel Helwani. Chael believes that if someone is as talented or as dominant as Rakhmonov, they should be given the title fight right away. Helwani was trying to say that fighters need to be built up. Yet, Chael is a former UFC fighter, so his perspective is quite interesting.
Rakhmonov (-490) vs Neal (+390) is going to be a clash of styles. Shavkat can finish his opponents however he needs to. Geoff just wants to knock you out. Shavkat is heavily favored because he is an undefeated machine with eight wins and eight knockouts, while Geoff Neal is trying to make a new name for himself in the UFC. Shavkat is going to get his finish. The question is how? Once DraftKings releases their complete lines, we'll let you know exactly how we're going to play this fight. There's no way Shavkat vs Geoff Neal is going the distance, I can't wait!
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