Tonight’s UFC 285 main card lineup featured a key welterweight contest between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal.
Neal (15-5 MMA) had entered the bout sporting a two-fight winning streak, his most recent being an impressive knockout victory over Vicente Luque. ‘Handz of Steel’ had gone 7-2 overall in his UFC career ahead of tonight’s affair.
Meanwhile, Shavkat Rakhmonov (17-0 MMA) was looking to improve to 5-0 in the UFC when he took to the Octagon this evening. ‘Nomad’ had scored stoppage wins in all four of his first promotional appearances, finishing the likes of Alex Oliveira, Michel Prazeres, Carlston Harris and Neil Magny in that stretch.
Tonight’s main card welterweight matchup proved to be an absolute war. Shavkat Rakhmonov and Geoff Neal went toe-to-toe in the opening ten minutes, but it appeared that ‘Nomad’ was getting the better of the exchanges overall. Then, in round three, Neal rocked Shavkat with a punch. However, Rakhmonov battled through the adversity and went on to rock Neal right back. From there, he promptly locked in a standing rear-naked choke to secure the finish.
Official UFC 285 Result: Shavkat Rakhmonov def. Geoff Neal via submission in Round 3
Check out how the pros reacted to ‘Rakhmonov vs. Neal’ below:
Post-fight reactions to Shavkat Rakhmonov defeating Geoff Neal tonight at UFC 285: