Diesel AK Blog

Fighter Profile: Shavkat Rakhmonov

Shavkat Rakhmonov: undefeated UFC welterweight — 19-0 record, finishing rate and injury layoff.

Fighters13 July 2026

Background

Kazakh welterweight and a former M-1 Global welterweight champion. His professional record is 19-0 with 18 of those wins coming by stoppage — eight knockouts and ten submissions.

Career timeline

Joined the UFC in 2020 and finished each of his first six promotional opponents, including Neil Magny, Geoff Neal and Stephen Thompson.
Beat Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision at UFC 310 in December 2024, going the distance for the first time in his professional career.
Has not competed since. He is recovering from a serious injury, and his coach has said he may not fight at all during 2026, with a return possibly not until early 2027.

Fight craft

Rakhmonov is the rare fighter with no obvious weak phase: a hard, accurate striker with genuine knockout power and a submission game that has produced ten finishes, all wrapped in a physically imposing frame for the division. He is patient, takes his time finding a finish, and is comfortable in every position. The only real question against him is the one every undefeated fighter carries — he has not yet had to win from behind, and the Garry fight was the first time an opponent forced him into a full 25 minutes.

In the modern MMA landscape

Our wider MMA analysis says Rakhmonov “extended his undefeated record to 19-0 during this period”. That is misleading: he reached 19-0 in December 2024 and has been inactive through the entire 2025–26 window the report covers. He remains undefeated and remains a factor in the division, but through absence rather than activity.

Return to What the Modern MMA Game Demands.

Sources

Record and competitive status checked 1 August 2026.