Shavkat Rakhmonov returns to training

Shavkat Rakhmonov is finally moving like a fighter again.

The unbeaten UFC welterweight contender has returned to MMA training after a long knee injury layoff, giving the 170-pound division a reminder that one of its most dangerous names is not gone. The new footage does not come with a fight date, and it does not mean he is ready for a full UFC camp tomorrow. But after months of silence, surgery talk, crutches, rehab and uncertainty, seeing Rakhmonov back on the mats is a real update.

Rakhmonov has not fought since December 2024, when he beat Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision at UFC 310. That fight ended Garry’s unbeaten record and kept Rakhmonov perfect at 19-0. It also came at a cost. The knee problem that followed took him out of the title race and left the welterweight division moving without him.

For a fighter who was once lined up for a title shot, that is a brutal pause. Rakhmonov did not lose his place in the cage. He lost time.

The title picture changed while he was gone

The division Rakhmonov left behind is not the same one he is returning to.

When he beat Garry, Belal Muhammad was still the champion and Rakhmonov looked like the obvious title challenger once his body allowed it. Since then, the belt has moved, the names have shifted, and Islam Makhachev is now tied to the welterweight title picture.

That changes everything around Rakhmonov. Before the injury, his case was simple: undefeated, elite wins, title shot waiting. Now the case is more complicated. He still has the record. He still has the danger. But he has also been away long enough for other contenders to push their own names forward.

Makhachev has already made the point publicly that Rakhmonov cannot simply sit out for a year and expect to walk straight into a title fight. That is the hard part of injuries at the top level. The division respects the resume, but it does not stop moving.

• Shavkat Rakhmonov has returned to MMA training after a knee injury layoff.
• He remains unbeaten at 19-0 as a professional fighter.
• His last fight was a decision win over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310.
• The injury kept him out of the welterweight title race for a long stretch.
• No official UFC return date has been announced yet.
• An early 2027 comeback has been mentioned as a possible timeline.

The Garry win still matters

The Ian Machado Garry fight is still the strongest piece of Rakhmonov’s current argument.

Garry was unbeaten, confident and climbing fast when they met. Rakhmonov did not get the finish that night, but he got something else that mattered. He proved he could win a hard, tactical fight against a smart, mobile welterweight who was not easy to trap.

Before that fight, Rakhmonov had finished every opponent in his professional career. The Garry decision broke that streak, but it also answered a different question. He could go three rounds, adjust, manage danger and still leave with the win.

That matters now because the welterweight title picture is full of fighters who can make rounds ugly. If Rakhmonov returns healthy, the Garry win is still the result that keeps his name near the front.

Kazakhstan still waits for its UFC title shot

Rakhmonov’s return also carries weight beyond the rankings.

He has become the strongest UFC title hope for Kazakhstan, and he has spoken before about wanting to bring the belt home. During the injury layoff, that dream looked further away than ever. Every month without a fight made the title picture less clear.

The training footage gives that story life again. It does not solve the knee. It does not book the fight. It does not guarantee that he jumps straight back into a title eliminator. But it shows the road is open again.

For UFC, Rakhmonov remains a valuable name if he is healthy. He is unbeaten, dangerous everywhere, and still carries the aura of a fighter nobody has solved. Welterweight needs that kind of threat. A division with Makhachev, Garry, Carlos Prates, Belal Muhammad and other contenders becomes much stronger when Rakhmonov is active.

The comeback has to be handled carefully

The next move is the delicate part.

A knee injury is not something a fighter can fake through at welterweight. Rakhmonov’s game needs pressure, clinch strength, scrambling, takedown threat and the ability to explode through positions. If the knee is not ready, the whole style changes.

That is why the training footage should be treated as progress, not a final green light. The real test will be full camp intensity, hard rounds, reaction speed, defensive movement and whether he can push without protecting the leg.

Still, this is the best sign Rakhmonov fans have had in a long time. The unbeaten contender is back in the gym, the knee rehab has reached a visible stage, and the welterweight division has to keep his name in the conversation again.

Rakhmonov lost time. He did not lose the record. If the body holds, the title race may have to make room for “Nomad” all over again.