UFC 285: Shavkat Rakhmonov Nabs Late Standing Submission of Geoff Neal in Wild Slugfest

• Shavkat Rakhmonov defeated Geoff Neal in their catchweight bout in UFC 285
• Rakhmonov won via submission in the third and final round after an intense battle
• The Kazak fighter submitted Neal impressively with a standing rear-naked choke

Shavkat Rakhmonov preserved his unbeaten MMA record on Saturday, beating Geoff Neal in an all-out slugfest at UFC 285.

The two fighters went toe-to-toe, with Rakhmonov ultimately prevailing via submission in the third round of their fight.

He also did it in style, submitting Neal with a standing rear-naked choke at the 4:17 mark of Round 3.

With the victory, Rakhmonov moved to 17-0, including a perfect 5-0 in the UFC. Neal dropped to 15-5 in his MMA career, with a 7-3 UFC record, per Yahoo! Sports.

Cameron Saaiman remains undefeated in the UFC after majority decision victory over Mana Martinez

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Neal misses weight

Fans in attendance were fortunate the fight went ahead as scheduled. Neal missed the welterweight limit for this fight, making this a catchweight bout instead.

Rakhmonov still appeared to be the bigger fighter, despite Neal missing the weight limit.

Neal and Rakhmonov traded damaging blows right from the get-go. Rakhmonov connected with a head kick in the first round, causing Neal to backpedal. Neal battled back later in the round, landing a punching combination that stunned Rakhmonov.

Rakhmonov continued to land better-quality shots in the next two rounds, which made a telling difference as the fight neared its end. Neal looked tired but continued to slug it out with Rakhmonov.

Rakhmonov stuns with standing submission

That gave Rakhmonov an opening, with the Kazakh fighter launching multiple knees to the body that nearly forced Neal to fold. He remained on his feet, but Rakhmonov saw another opportunity to finish the fight.

UFC 285: Costly error dooms Shevchenko as Grasso claims flyweight title via submission

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He switched to Neal’s back and grabbed his neck in the clinch. Neal tried his hardest to fight the choke attempt but was ultimately forced to tap out. He crumpled to the canvas as the referee called an end to the fight.

Grasso wins UFC flyweight title

Sports Brief recently reported on Alexa Grasso winning the title at UFC 285.

She captured the flyweight gold after beating Valentina Shevchenko via submission in the fourth round of their championship bout on Saturday.

Grasso applied a rear-naked choke on Shevchenko after the latter whiffed on a spinning back-kick to claim the upset win.