{"id":638860,"date":"2026-04-30T16:03:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:03:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/638860\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:03:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:03:11","slug":"ufc-superstar-looks-almost-unrecognizable-after-time-away-from-sport-mma-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/638860\/","title":{"rendered":"UFC superstar looks almost unrecognizable after time away from sport &#8211; MMA &#8211; Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>UFC superstar Shavkat Rakhmonov has been seen for the first time in months, looking much slimmer than fans have ever seen him, sparking concerns for his future in the sport.<\/p>\n<p>But having not fought since December 2024, he was removed from the <a data-link-tracking=\"InArticle|Link\" title=\"UFC\" href=\"https:\/\/www.the-express.com\/latest\/ufc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">UFC<\/a> rankings in February, and reported to be undergoing treatment for a serious knee injury.<\/p>\n<p>He is believed to have undergone two surgeries, ruling him out for most of 2026.<\/p>\n<p>A video of the 31-year-old welterweight has gone viral of him rehabbing his knee injury, with many fans saying the same thing in the comments section.<\/p>\n<p>One said: &#8220;Damn, we may never see him fight again, and if he does come back, he will be nothing like he was in his prime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Another fan posted: &#8220;Man I really feel bad for him, having an injury like that, that seems to not recover, or it pops up again constantly.. right during your prime and ascent.. that\u2019s every fighter\/athlete\u2019s worst nightmare. There are few things that are worse than developing a career halting\/ending injury or illness, during your prime.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>After being removed from the rankings, many had worried for Rakhmonov&#8217;s career. The 31-year-old quickly looked to respond while posting a statement confirming he will fight to return to the octagon.<\/p>\n<p>He wrote: &#8220;A fighter&#8217;s path has never been easy. Life doesn&#8217;t give us challenges we can&#8217;t overcome. Every dream comes at a price and sometimes that price is your health.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Today, I have to be honest: due to ongoing injuries, I&#8217;ve had another surgery and will need time to fully recover. As a result, my return will be postponed. It&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My goal is still alive. The UFC belt still has to come to Kazakhstan.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC superstar Shavkat Rakhmonov has been seen for the first time in months, looking much slimmer than fans&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":638861,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,5718,638,695,132592,82,640,953],"class_list":["post-638860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-injury","tag-mma","tag-return","tag-shavkat-rakhmonov","tag-sports","tag-ufc","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=638860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/638860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/638861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=638860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=638860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=638860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}