Kazakh mixed martial arts fighter Zhalgas Zhumagulov has shared a joint photo with Shavkat Rakhmonov on social media platform X, taken in the past, and addressed the former UFC title challenger, reports infohub.kz.
In the photo posted by Zhumagulov, both athletes are captured in a gym, showing off their physiques. Under the photo, Zhalgas wrote: "A photo from the past. The best is yet to come. Wishing you a speedy recovery, brother. InshaAllah, you will return and take what is rightfully yours."
It was previously reported that a tragedy struck Shavkat Rakhmonov's family—his father passed away. Baktybai Alpamysov died on August 2 at the age of 65.
Earlier, Rakhmonov's coach stated that the fighter would not be able to return to the UFC in 2026. Shavkat's last fight took place in December 2024 at UFC 310, where he defeated Irishman Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision, maintaining his undefeated record of 19 wins. After that, the Kazakh, who was expected to fight for the championship belt, was out of the octagon for a long time due to health issues and dropped out of the UFC welterweight top rankings. Currently, Garry, who lost to Shavkat, is preparing for a title fight after two impressive victories.