Jon Jones has “only one chance” to win against Cyril Gane’s elite striking, says Shavkat Rakhmonov (Exclusive)

One of the most complete mixed martial artists competing in the UFC right now is Shavkat Rakhmonov. Rakhmonov, a prestigious Master of Sport recipient in both MMA and sambo, has shown good fight IQ during his brief time with the group.

On March 4, 2023, in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, Rakhmonov will compete against Geoff Neal. The MMA community as a whole is thrilled to see “Bones” back in action, and the event also sees Jon Jones make his comeback as he takes on Ciryl Gane.

Some fans think that Jon Jones’ extensive experience in the octagon should prevent the American from experiencing ring rust when he makes a three-year comeback. Some fans, however, think that Jones will have a tough opponent in Gane, a former UFC interim heavyweight champion who is bigger and more cunning than Jones.

Shavkat Rakhmonov revealed how Jones can defeat Gane in an exclusive chat with James Lynch of Sportskeeda MMA [through translator]:

“I’m not really sure how Jon Jones is doing right now. He hasn’t engaged in combat for so long. Ciryl has a powerful strike. Take this fight to the ground if you want to give Jones any chance. Ciryl Gane will prevail if the combat takes place standing up.”
Gane is arguably one of the best heavyweight attackers competing right now. Rakhmonov’s viewpoint is therefore reasonable. The Cameroonian learned that Gane was winning the striking exchanges during his title unification fight against Francis Ngannou at UFC 270. He quickly changed to wrestling, which helped him gain the upper hand and eventually resulted in a unanimous decision victory. Jones, who excels as a wrestler on his own,

Shavkat Rakhmonov believes Islam Makhachev is undefeatable at lightweight right now

At UFC 284, Islam Makhachev successfully made the first defence of his lightweight title by defeating Alexander Volkanovski. A sizable portion of the MMA scene continues to believe Makhachev lost the fight, shattering his myth of invincibility.

Despite this, it might be claimed that Makhachev displayed grit and perseverance on the way to winning by a unanimous vote. With 12 fights inside the octagon, the Dagestani is unbeaten.

In the aforementioned exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Shavkat Rakhmonov, who has a perfect 16-0 MMA record (4-0 in the UFC), asserted that Makhachev is invincible at 155 pounds right now:

“I don’t now see anyone overpowering Islam any time soon.

But, nothing endures forever, and things can alter… I don’t see anyone beating him right now.”

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