Rakhmonov Training Clip Fuels Talk of a Return Against Morales

Shavkat Rakhmonov is back on the mats, and a new training clip has restarted talk of his return to the Octagon. The video shows the Kazakh welterweight getting in a few wrestling rounds at a controlled pace.

Rakhmonov has not fought since UFC 310, where he injured his knee against Ian Machado Garry. He has spent nearly two years on the sidelines, and problems during rehab complicated his recovery. In the clip, shared by MMA Uncensored, he wore extra support on his left knee, a sign the injury still needs time. He still managed to land a few takedowns.

MMA Uncensored captioned the video: "Will Shavkat Return at #UFC336 in Toronto against Michael Morales." Fans are split on whether the compromised knee should put an asterisk on a comeback. Rakhmonov himself seems set on returning as soon as January or February next year.

19-0 against 19-0

He first hinted at a return with a vague social media message. After putting the best of the welterweight division on notice, he also posted a TikTok video with the caption "19-0 VS 19-0." Michael Morales has the same unbeaten record, which gives the pairing its appeal.

Nothing is official, but Dana White appears open to it. At the DWCS Week 10 post-fight press conference he said: "Could be, could be... If it was done, we would announce it, but yeah, we actually have a lot of cool stuff going on right now that we went over yesterday. Yeah, we got a lot of good announcements coming up."

Rakhmonov holds a win over title challenger Machado Garry, and his record is clean. The division, though, is currently headed another way: champion Islam Makhachev is scheduled to defend his belt against Carlos Prates at UFC 336 in January.

Source: MMA Sucka