Shavkat Rakhmonov continued to impress in the Octagon tonight at UFC 285 with a late submission win over Geoff Neal to extend his unbeaten record to 17-0.
Round One:
Head kick attempt from Rakhmonov to start and it seemed to get partially through the guard, but didn’t have a notable effect on Neal.
Rakhmonov into the clinch now against the cage, but Neal manages to reverse the position and then backs off.
Knee to the body from Rakhmonov and a right hand lands for Neal at the same time. Right hook for Rakhmonov. left hand from Neal. He follows that up with another nice one-two.
Solid couple of right hooks for Rakhmonov now. He lands another right and then again as he clinches up. He lands a knee to the body. He’s trying to get him over to the cage now, but Neal manages to escape.
Right hand for Rakhmonov. Head kick from Neal partially gets through. Both men looking for punches and Rakhmonov has lost his gumshield but the action is continuing. Neal lands a punch and Rakhmonov responds with a couple of his own.
Solid body kick from Neal. Rakhmonov with a body punch and Neal goes to the head.
Head kick lands for Rakhmonov and then a knee to the body. Neal took that well, but he’s now sporting a cut to the head.
They get into the clinch and soon after it’s actually Joe Rogan who finally points out to ref Herb Dean that Rakhmonov’s mouthpiece is out and he finally gets a chance to stop the action and put it back in!
Rakhmonov with a big connection on the punch that troubles Neal and more strikes behind it. Neal having to back away now under pressure. He fires back now in the final seconds of the round.
Round Two:
Body kick from Neal. Front kick from Rakhmonov and another body kick from Neal. Good knee to the body from Rakhmonov. Now a body kick from him and follows up with a head kick attempt. Smooth work from him.
Rakhmonov into the clinch against the cage. Knee to the body. He’s working for a single leg now, but Neal does very well to stay upright.
Back at striking range now. A few grazing blows on both sides. Solid triple jab for Rakhmonov. Now a front kick to the body. He walks into a heavy punch from Neal though and then another.
Right hand from Rakhmonov and now uppercuts. Rakhmonov with an elbow too as he works into the clinch against the cage. Another knee for him. Blood leaking down Neal’s face at the moment from that earlier cut.
Right and a left hand for Rakhmonov after moving out of the clinch. He lands to the body. A couple of hooks from Neal and Rakhmonov grins at him after that.
Jabs for Rakhmonov. Neal able to turn Rakhmonov into the cage in the clinch now.
Away from the clinch Rakhmonov lands another nice knee to the body. Inside leg kick from Neal. Hard right hand from Rakhmonov.
A couple of knees from Rakhmonov as he works into the clinch again and a grazing punch from Neal to end the round.
Round Three:
Solid body kick from Rakhmonov and then a kick upstairs. left hand for Neal. Rakhmonov with a spinning kick upstairs that seemed to partially land.
Neal with a big blow and Rakhmonov staggers from that one. He manages to recover though and then lands a couple of solid punches of his own.
Rakhmonov into the clinch and walks Neal over to the cage. Knee to the body from him. The ref is urging more work from him if he wants to stay in the clinch. He lands a couple more knees and then backs out.
Flurry of punches from both men. Heavy one-two from Rakhmonov rocks Neal. Now a knee strike. Neal backed up against the cage. Another knee to the body and strikes upstairs.
Rakhmonov looking for the takedown now, but even though Neal is hurt and bleeding he still defends. Rakhmonov moves around to the back as he has him up against the cage again.
Rakhmonov then catches Neal off-guard by sinking in a standing rear-naked choke. He’s cranking on it hard and forces him to tap out!
Big submission win and an impressive performance from Rakhmonov at 4.17mins of the final round that should propel him further up the welterweight rankings as he continues to look like a serious contender at 170lbs.
