Shavkat
Rakhmonov's recovery and rehabilitation from multiple leg
injuries is seemingly moving in the right direction.

The undefeated welterweight recently shared footage on his
Instagram stories, in which he's seen doing some light wrestling
work. Rakhmonov hasn't competed since December 2024, with multiple
injury setbacks preventing a return to competition. However, the
recent video he and his coach shared online could be a sign of good
things to come.

Shavkat Rakhmonov continues recovery after calling for Islam
Makhachev matchup

Rakhmonov (19-0) was working on his clinch work in the video shared
on Instagram. He appears to be in good spirits and, notably, didn't
have a protective boot on his leg as he did in a recent
interview.

While speaking to AFL Global in an interview posted on Sept. 6, the
Kazakh was wearing a full protective boot. He's now boot-free and
gunning for an Octagon return, evidenced by his comments in said
interview, wherein he said he matches up well with current
welterweight champ Islam
Makhachev.

Rakhmonov expressed frustration after Makhachev did not mention him
among the leading 170-pound contenders, prompting the latter to
respond that he would consider the matchup once “Nomad†has
recovered and returned to action in the UFC.

“Well, Rakhmonov gave an interview recently with a huge brace on
his knee and he says he wants to fight,†Makhachev said during a
media scrum. “Choose him and wait for 1.5 years? Let him recover
and he will become one of the contenders.â€

😅🇰🇿 Islam
Makhachev responds to Shavkat
Rakhmonov who wasn’t happy with him not being mentioned as the
next contender:

“He gave an interview with a huge brace on his knee. He wants me to
choose him and then wait for 1.5 years for him to recover?”

🎥 MATCH TV pic.twitter.com/u5ayP5D7zz

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
September 9, 2026

Michael
Morales and Ian Garry
appear to have reached an agreement.

Garry came up short in his maiden title bid in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC
330, losing to Islam
Makhachev via decision. The Irishman is now looking to re-enter
the title mix by beating unbeaten welterweight Morales, who's open
to the matchup.

Michael Morales accepts Ian Garry's Nov. 28 proposal for a UFC
fight in Saudi Arabia

Morales has shared a screenshot of his DMs with Garry wherein they
agree to fight in November. The latter initially questioned the
former's availability claims, speculating that he's avoiding the
matchup.

“I wanna fight before the end of the year and I'm being told you're
not available,†Garry wrote. “You were able to be the back up for
the world title fight but not able to take a fight with me now?
You've also asked to be a back up for the next title fight, but
still not available to fight with me? Looks like someone is
avoiding me. Talk all that sh*t online then don't agree to fight?
What's going on here?â€

Morales responded by making his position clear:

“My son, what are you talking about? I fight whenever you want I
just want a contract and that's it I'll kick your *ss.â€

Garry responded:

“Saudi, Nov. 28. Let's do it.â€

Morales accepted, but it remains to be seen whether the UFC will
put the matchup together. Carlos
Prates is widely considered the next challenger to Makhachev's
title, making Garry vs. Morales a pivotal title eliminator.

Demetrious
Johnson claims Arman
Tsarukyan put a lesson from their training session together to
good use in his recent bout.

Tsarukyan further bolstered his case for a title shot in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC
331, knocking out Mauricio
Ruffy with an elbow at 4:56 of the opening round. The technique
he used to deliver the knockout was among the positions he worked
on alongside Johnson when they trained together.

Arman Tsarukyan put Demetrious Johnson’s clinch advice to use
against Mauricio Ruffy

Johnson broke down the finish and highlighted Tsarukyan's decision
to remain aggressive in close range rather than immediately looking
for another takedown when he had Ruffy up against the Octagon
wall.

“Now, instead of just wrestling here, like I said, you don't have
to wrestle here,†Johnson said in a video posted to his YouTube
channel. “Look, he's already here. That's one of the things I
showed him. Usually people want to wrestle here, but I told him,
‘You don't have to wrestle.'â€

The UFC Hall of Famer also backed Tsarukyan for a title shot
against lightweight champ Justin
Gaethje.

“Those are things that he's going to need when he takes on Justin
Gaethje, because Justin can push the pace,†Johnson said. “He can
do a lot of damage. He can wrestle, too. This is the fight that
needs to happen. We don't need to worry about Ilia
Topuria. This man is owed a title shot.â€

ðŸðŸ§  Demetrious
Johnson teaching Arman some clinch work.

Mighty emphasized that Arman needs to move away from a
wrestling-heavy approach to MMA:

“You're holding him, but in MMA, it's better to strip his hand off
you, land a left hook to the body, a right straight to the
head.â€â€¦

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
September 20, 2026