Geoff Neal vs Shavkat Rakhmonov UFC 285 Main Card Fight Video Part I
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Geoff Neal and Shavkat Rakhmonov square off in the top ten UFC welterweight match at World Cup 285.

The conflict, which featured No. Neal and No. 7 are ranked. The pay-per-view main card on Saturday includes 10 Rakhmonov, which comes before UFC 285's two title fights.

Who has the advantage in combat? Let's dissect it.

On Friday, Neal lost four pounds and was fined 30% of his fight fund.

For the majority of fighters, a minor miss( like Mana Martinez's pound-loss) worries me more than an important miss. Instead of backing a fighter who did everything in their power to gain weight and completely depleted their body but still didn't get there, I would rather wager on someone who stopped their weight cut and may even have an advantage physically.

Neal has a unique narrative. In 2020, he suffered from a number of illnesses, such as an severe case of COVID, severe septic shock, congestive heart failure, and kidney failure. In that year, his losses to Stephen Thompson and Neal Magny left him looking much like the same person.

In his victory over Vicente Luque in August, he appeared to have regained his form and was as explosive and strong as ever. However, Friday's weight loss raises the possibility that Neal is suffering from a brand-new, unidentified illness or injury that could have an impact on his performance on Saturday.

Despite the weight loss, he is a huge underdog against Shavkat Rakhmonov, the most terrifying prospect at 170( aside from Khamzat Chimaev, who I might bet on if those two uber prospects squared off tomorrow).

Rakhmonov modeled his fight style after Neal Magny in his most recent match. And throughout his fights, he has shown off a stunningly dangerous variety of kicks at striking distance. Inside the distance, Shavkat has defeated all 18 of his professional rivals.

Neal, however, undoubtedly presents a challenging test. The native of Texas has one of the most potent left hands in combat sports and strong takedown defense( 85%).

Even so, Neal is a better hammer than nail; when things aren't going his way, he may become irritated and stop working.

Rakhmonov is a skilled pressure fighter, but when it comes to Neal, he must deny the pocket and either play the outside-range game with his two-inch advantage and kicks, or try to clinch him and drag him to the mat.

While Neal has a strong first-level takedown defense, his defensive jiu-jitsu is still relatively new, which makes it difficult to predict whether Rakhmonov will make it to his 19th straight victory.

Shavkat has the power to transform any foe into a pretzel, kill him by forcing him to submit, or use his brutal hammerfists to flatten his face.

Neal has a good chance of winning because he has significant clout for the division and Rakhmonov has suffered regional wobbles. He will still need to find a way to enter the boxing range so he can land flush and deny the takedowns.

Shavkat still has some concerns about his cardio, and even though I think he'll be a champion in the future, the straight-up moneyline price makes it clear that it's dog or pass.