Undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov meets Kelvin Gastelum

Former UFC middleweight title contender Kelvin Gastelum will return to the lower division, where he will be met by 17-fight undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov.

The two will square off on September 16 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The news was announced by the president of the most elite MMA chain in the world, Dana White. Gastelum and Rakhmonov will be the last warm-up fight before the main fight - a rematch between Alexa Grasso and former champion Valentina Shevchenko.

This will be Rakhmonov's second fight this year. At the UFC 285 event, the Kazakh stopped Geoff Neal in an epic bout that earned him a fight of the night award. The 28-year-old fighter turned down every one of the fighters who stood against him in the UFC cage (Alex Oliveira, Michel Pazeres,, Neil Magny, Calston Harris).

Gastelum's last fight at 77 kg was in 2016. Then he defeated former division champion Johny Hendricks at the UFC 200 event. The American will also make his second fight of 2023. At UFC 287, the Kings MMA fighter defeated Chris Curtis by decision. This success was his first after a streak of two consecutive losses (Jared Cannonier and Robert Whittaker).