White Opens Door to Rakhmonov vs Morales in Battle of Unbeaten Welterweights

The UFC may be lining up one of its most mouth-watering welterweight fights. Asked about the rumored matchup between Shavkat Rakhmonov and Michael Morales after the final episode of Dana White's Contender Series Season 10, White stopped short of an announcement but clearly didn't shut it down. "Could be, could be… If it was done, we would announce it, but yeah, we actually have a lot of cool stuff going on right now that we went over yesterday," White said. "Yeah, we got a lot of good announcements coming up." Both men are 19-0 — the division's most feared unbeaten contenders. Rakhmonov hasn't fought since December 2024, when he beat Ian Garry at UFC 310, with recurring knee injuries keeping him sidelined nearly two years. Morales, meanwhile, has stormed through his last three opponents — Neil Magny, Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady — all first-round knockouts, most recently at UFC 322 last November. Morales has already called out Rakhmonov on social media and previously hinted at a non-title fight booked for January. White also confirmed Carlos Prates is in a strong position to challenge champion Islam Makhachev next, saying "he's in a great spot in a lot of different areas right now." If the UFC pairs these bouts, Morales-Rakhmonov would effectively decide the next challenger after Prates — a de facto No. 1 contender fight between two of the most dangerous fighters in the sport.