Daniel Cormier sees one particular UFC welterweight contender giving Islam Makhachev problems.
Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) dominated Jack Della Maddalena (18-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) to claim the welterweight title in Saturday’s UFC 322 headliner at Madison Square Garden in New York.
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With Makhachev logging more than 19 minutes of control time on Della Maddalena, many are wondering who can challenge the man who has now tied Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in company history at 16.
Cormier said that could be Shavkat Rakhmonov (19-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC).
“Shavkat Rakhmonov is the guy that I think about and I go, ‘Man, that is a crazy fight to think about,'” Cormier said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Chael Sonnen. “Islam vs. Rakhmonov. The size of Rakhmonov, the wrestling ability of Rakhmonov, and the striking of Rakhmonov.
“Boy, that’s a good one. I thought last weekend would have been the toughest fight of his career. He clearly proved that wasn’t the case. I think, though, if he was to fight Shavkat, that would easily be the hardest fight of his career.”
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Rakhmonov cemented himself as No. 1. contender when he defeated Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310 in December 2024. He was slated to challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title at UFC 315 in May but withdrew due to injury. He has not competed since.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Daniel Cormier names ‘easily the hardest fight’ for Islam Makhachev
