Breaking: Shavkat Rakhmonov reacts to 'Pinata' Kelvin Gastelum of pulling out of fight, demands new date on his turf

The UFC is set to produce a major event on Mexican Independence Day on September 16. One of the most highly-anticipated bouts on this card would’ve seen Shavkat Rakhmonov, the No.6 ranked welterweight, face off with No.11 ranked middleweight Kelvin Gastelum.

The fight would’ve marked Gastelum’s first bout at 170lbs since 2016, and would’ve provided the TUF 17 winner with a truly difficult test.

Shavkat Rakhmonov was last seen in March, when he submitted Geoff Neal in impressive fashion. ‘The Nomad’ remains unbeaten in the octagon with an overall record of 17-0.

Unfortunately, Rakhmonov appears to have announced today, via his Twitter account, that the fight is now off.

Whether the UFC can re-arrange the fight between the native of Kazakhstan and Gastelum in Abu Dhabi probably depends on the exact reasoning why Gastelum has been forced out of the initial booking.

UFC 294 is set to go down on October 21, meaning that the TUF 17 winner would have approximately 12 weeks to recover from any potential injury.

Right now, the event is set to feature a headline bout of Islam Makhachev vs. Charles Oliveira for the UFC lightweight title, while the co-headliner will see surging prospect Khamzat Chimaev facing Paulo Costa in a middleweight clash.

If the bout between Rakhmonov and Gastelum is added to this event, it’s highly likely that it would find its way onto the main card portion of the pay-per-view.

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Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Kelvin Gastelum: What did the TUF 17 winner say about the match-up?

According to Shavkat Rakhmonov’s Twitter account, his planned clash with Kelvin Gastelum on September 16 appears to be off for now.

Gastelum, however, appears to be confident. In fact, he went as far as claiming that he’s a “horrible” match for the Kazakh native from a stylistic standpoint.

More recently, Gastelum told interviewer Caroline Pearce that he would “get the job done” in his clash with ‘The Nomad.’ Based on today’s announcement, only time will tell whether this is the case.

Watch Kelvin Gastelum discuss Shavhat Rakhmonov below.