One of the welterweight divisions best fighters Shavkat Rakhmonov has unfortunately suffered another injury setback as it’s emerged that he’s had to undergo knee surgery again.

The undefeated Rakhmonov has had a lot of bad luck in recent years as he was supposed to fight Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title in December of 2024, only for his opponent to withdraw due to an injury.

Instead, Rakhmonov fought Ian Machado Garry in a title eliminator and won by unanimous decision to secure his title shot.

However, Rakhmonov was soon forced out of that title opportunity due to needing knee surgery that would keep him out of action for at least nine months, and now after being absent for all of 2025 his comeback has now suffered another blow with this news that he’s had to have another operation.

Once again the 31-year-old Rakhmonov is expected to be out for 9-10 months, which would mean he wouldn’t be ready to fight again until late 2026 at the earliest.

“A fighter’s path has never been easy,” Rakhmonov wrote on Instagram. “Life doesn’t give us challenges we can’t overcome. Every dream comes at a price and sometimes that price is your health. Today, I have to be honest. Due to ongoing injuries, I’ve had another surgery and will need time to fully recover. As a result, my return to the octagon will be postponed.

“It’s not easy to accept but I truly believe every setback is part of a bigger plan. I will come back stronger, smarter and hungrier than ever. My goal is still alive. The UFC belt still has to come to Kazakhstan. Thank you to everyone who stands by me no matter what. This is not the end of the journey. It’s an important chapter of it.”

Even from an early stage in his UFC run Rakhmonov had been marked out as having the polished, well-rounded qualities to be a potential future title challenger.

During his 7-0 run in the Octagon so far, Rakhmonov has beaten the likes of Neil Magny, Geoff Neal, Stephen Thompson and Ian Garry, which had made the prospect of a title showdown with current champion Islam Makhachev a mouth-watering prospect.

It remains to be seen how the No.2 ranked contender will fare when he does eventually return after what’s likely to be two years in total on the sidelines, but in the mean time it certainly shakes up the top end of the division, where the also undefeated, 4th ranked Michael Morales’ chances of getting a title shot may now have increased.