Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Geoff Neal has been rescheduled.
MMA Fighting confirmed with sources with knowledge of the matchup that Rakhmonov (16-0) and Neal (15-4) are set to fight at UFC 285 in Las Vegas on March 4. The welterweight contenders were originally scheduled to fight at UFC Vegas 67 on Jan. 14, but Neal was forced to withdraw from that date due to an injury.
The first report of the new booking came from ESPN .
This is great news both for the fighters who are entering 2023 with win streaks in place and aspirations to fight for the welterweight title. Rakhmonov is currently No. 8 at 170 pounds in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, while Neal sits at No. 10.
Rakhmonov is unbeaten in 16 pro bouts, including four UFC appearances in which none of his opponents have made it past the second round. The Kazakh contender most recently defeated veteran Neil Magny via submission this past June.
Neal, 7-2 in the UFC, is coming off of back-to-back wins over Vicente Luque and Santiago Ponzinibbio. After narrowly edging out a win over Ponzinibbio via split decision in December 2021, Neal closed out his lone appearance of 2022 in emphatic fashion, knocking Vicente Luque out in Round 3 of their fight at UFC Vegas 59.
Mike Heck, Damon Martin and others contributed to this report.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/1/4/23538867/shavkat-rakhmonov-vs-geoff-neal-re-booked-for-ufc-285?rand=96749
