Shavkat Rahmonov believes he’s got what it takes to challenge UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, and thinks he can trouble him wherever the fight ends up.

“I believe Islam had a great performance,” Rakhmonov told Ariel Helwani. “But I also want to find out for myself: Is it JDM had such a bad performance or Islam had such a good performance? I believe I’m a universal [well-rounded] fighter; I can make it hard for him everywhere. So I just want to find out for myself what’s gonna happen.”

In the wake of Makhachev’s title-winning domination of Jack della Maddalena, the 31-year-old Rakhmonov certainly stands out as a worthy challenger.

Rakhmonov currently holds a perfect 19-0 record, including a seven-fight winning streak since joining the UFC in 2020.

That includes victories over the likes of Neil Magny, Geoff Neal, Stephen Thompson and most recently Ian Machado Garry, taking him to No.3 in the welterweight rankings.

Unfortunately for Rakhmonov an injury forced him to withdraw from a title shot against the champion at the time, Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 in May, with Maddalena taking his place instead.

He’s now close to returning after a year out, but newly crowned champion Makhachev doesn’t appear to be in a hurry to fight him.

“[Shavkat] hasn’t fought for over a year,” Makhachev said after his victory on Saturday night. “A contender can’t sit out for a year with injuries and then come fight for the belt. We said hello, he congratulated me. We just shook hands.”

The good news for Rakhmonov however is that the champ didn’t completely rule out facing him next.

“If he recovers, and the UFC decides he’s next, why not?” Makhachev said.