Sean Brady says Shavkat Rakhmonov will never fight again

Sean Brady has stopped believing in the comeback. Speaking on Daniel Cormier’s channel, the UFC’s No. 6 welterweight said out loud what the division has been sitting on since January: a knee that gives out every time, two surgeries in under a year, and a training camp that has become impossible to finish. Shavkat Rakhmonov, for his part, is 19-0 and has just returned to sparring.

Ce qu'il faut retenir

Sean Brady told Daniel Cormier that Shavkat Rakhmonov will never fight again, arguing the Kazakh can no longer get through a full training camp on his knee.
Rakhmonov is undefeated at 19-0 with 18 finishes, but has not fought since UFC 310 in December 2024; a second knee surgery in January 2026 got him pulled from the welterweight rankings.
Stephen Thompson, whom Rakhmonov submitted at UFC 296, says the opposite: he expects him back sharper and, in his words, looking for blood.

What Sean Brady said about Shavkat Rakhmonov

No hedging

Asked by Daniel Cormier about the Kazakh’s chances of returning, Sean Brady did not soften it. “I don’t think he’s ever going to fight again,” the Philadelphia welterweight said. “Because every time he tries to come back, his knee just keeps going out.” Then he spelled out the reasoning: “He’s just not going to be able to make it through a camp.”

The argument is worth hearing, because it is not about talent. Brady is not claiming Rakhmonov has lost anything inside the cage. He is saying the problem happens earlier, in the weeks of preparation nobody watches. “The camp is the hardest part,” he added. A fighter can grit his way through fifteen minutes on a bad knee. He cannot grit his way through two months of daily wrestling.

A rival’s opinion, not an announcement

The caveat matters. Brady is neither Rakhmonov’s manager nor his doctor. He is a direct competitor: ranked sixth at welterweight, 19-2 as a pro, coming off a decision win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC 328 on May 9, 2026. He is talking about a man who has blocked his path for two years without setting foot in the cage.

That is not a reason to dismiss him. Brady trains in the same world, hears the same things, and he put a concern into words that was already circulating. But this is an opinion, not a statement from the promotion. No medical source has confirmed anything, and Rakhmonov has not responded.

Twenty months out, two surgeries, a ranking lost

The last fight was December 2024

The facts are simple and they are heavy. Rakhmonov has not fought since UFC 310 in December 2024, when he beat Ian Machado Garry on the scorecards. That was his nineteenth win in nineteen fights, and the only one to reach the judges: the other eighteen ended early, by knockout or submission.

He took that fight on a knee that was already damaged. The injury then cost him the title shot he had earned against Belal Muhammad. The belt changed hands without him, more than once since.

January 2026: the setback

In January 2026, footage circulated of the Kazakh on crutches with his knee in a brace. It was a second operation on the same knee inside a year, with a nine-to-ten-month absence attached to it. The UFC then removed him from the welterweight rankings. It is an administrative move, but it puts something on the record: a fighter who is no longer in the race.

As of today that is more than twenty months without a fight for a 31-year-old born on October 23, 1994, the first Kazakh signed by the UFC. A man who submitted Alex Oliveira on debut at UFC 254 in October 2020, then Stephen Thompson, Geoff Neal and Neil Magny.

The counter-argument: he is training

In early August, training clips and then sparring footage surfaced on social media. They carry no medical weight, but they were enough to restart the debate — and that is exactly what Brady was asked to react to.

I don't think he's ever going to fight again. Because every time he tries to come back, his knee just keeps going out.
— Sean Brady, on Daniel Cormier's channel

The welterweight division did not wait

Stephen Thompson says the opposite, and he has faced him

His loudest defender is the man he submitted at UFC 296. Stephen Thompson refuses to write him off: “Huge threat. The guy is very skillful everywhere. Just because you don’t see this guy fighting, a lot of people think he’s not been training. This dude has been a through-and-through martial artist since day one.”

He goes further: “Don’t underestimate this guy coming back. I feel like he’s gonna come back even better, a stronger mindset, stronger fighter spirit. He’s looking for blood.” Two men from the same division, two opposite readings, and no proof either way.

Meanwhile, the queue moved on

This is where the absence actually costs him. Islam Makhachev moved up and holds the belt. Ian Machado Garry, the last man Rakhmonov beat, is now the No. 1 contender. Carlos Prates sits at No. 2 and says the UFC has promised him the next title shot. Michael Morales, Jack Della Maddalena, Gabriel Bonfim and Brady himself fill in behind them.

Put plainly: even a healthy return before the end of the year would not give Rakhmonov his old spot back. He would re-enter unranked a division he left as the top contender, carrying two years of rust and a reputation that is intact but increasingly theoretical.

Follow it with the real numbers

Rakhmonov’s full record, his finish rate, his striking and grappling splits, and the welterweight rankings refreshed after UFC 330 are all in the FightHub app. Download it, put his profile next to Sean Brady, Carlos Prates and Michael Morales, and judge for yourself what a comeback would actually be worth.