MMA Sucka reported Monday that Shavkat Rakhmonov is due to fight Jack Della Maddalena on Jan. 30 in Dallas. That’s the same date the UFC heads to Toronto for UFC 336, where Carlos Prates meets Michael Morales for the interim welterweight title. The UFC hasn’t announced a Dallas card yet. As of this weekend, UFC 336 was the only numbered event on the books for the first quarter, so treat this as a report until the promotion confirms it.
If it happens, it’s the most interesting fight at 170 pounds that doesn’t have a belt attached. In my read, it’s a de facto eliminator for whoever comes out of the Makhachev vs. Prates/Morales mess later in 2027.
How we got here
The welterweight picture jammed up the moment Islam Makhachev stepped away from January. He was supposed to make his second defense against Prates. Reports differ on why he didn’t: Heavy cited an injury, while other outlets pointed to Ramadan starting nine days after the event and a lack of preparation time. Dana White didn’t sound thrilled. “Islam fights like once a year,” White told reporters, adding, “You can’t hold up divisions like this. You gotta keep moving.” Makhachev’s own explanation on X was shorter: “Too much contenders.”
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He isn’t wrong about the crowd. Prates has knocked out Leon Edwards and Della Maddalena in his last three fights. Morales is 19-0 with three straight first-round finishes, the latest over Sean Brady. And Rakhmonov is also 19-0, which TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter flagged when he noted that neither Morales nor Rakhmonov has fought in 2026.
Rakhmonov’s absence is the whole story on his side. His last fight was Dec. 7, 2024, at UFC 310, a five-round eliminator against Ian Machado Garry that he won by unanimous decision. He was supposed to get Belal Muhammad for the title and got hurt instead. In January 2026, a knee injury was reported to keep him out nine to 10 months, and he was pulled from the No. 2 spot in the rankings. By Jan. 30 he’ll be more than two years removed from the cage.
Della Maddalena’s path is the opposite problem. He’s been very active and it’s been rough. He won the belt from Muhammad by unanimous decision at UFC 315 in May 2025, lost it to Makhachev by unanimous decision at UFC 322 that November, then got stopped by Prates in Round 3 at UFC Fight Night 275 on May 2, 2026. Two losses in a row for a former champ is a real hole. A win over an undefeated contender fills it in one night.
Where Rakhmonov wins it
Rakhmonov finishes people with his hands around their necks. Of his seven UFC wins, five are submissions: guillotines on Alex Oliveira (Round 1) and Neil Magny (Round 2), and rear-naked chokes on Michel Prazeres (Round 2), Geoff Neal (Round 3) and Stephen Thompson. The Thompson finish is the one I’d show a class. He locked the choke with four seconds left in Round 2, the first time anyone had ever submitted Wonderboy. That’s a fighter who keeps hunting when most guys are already walking to their stool.
He can crack too. Carlston Harris went out by knockout in Round 1, and that’s the part opponents forget while they’re busy worrying about the back take.
The common opponent that matters here is Makhachev. Della Maddalena’s loss at UFC 322 was a clear decision to a fighter built around grappling control, and Yahoo described the result as a dominant win. My read: that fight is the blueprint, and Rakhmonov is the closest thing the division has to running it. He doesn’t need to win the boxing exchanges. He needs one entry that turns into a body lock, then a back, then a neck.
Where Della Maddalena wins it
JDM walked into a boxing gym at 14 to get fit for rugby and never left, and his UFC run started with four straight first-round finishes. The fight that tells you most about him is Gilbert Burns at UFC 299. He was in trouble early and still came back for a Round 3 TKO, which earned him a Fan’s Choice Comeback of the Year nomination. He’s comfortable being uncomfortable, and he’s gone five rounds with a belt on the line.
His path is pace and volume early, before Rakhmonov has his timing back. Two-plus years off is a long time. There’s also a knee involved, and for a fighter whose game depends on level changes and chain entries, I’d want to see that knee hold up under a few sprawls before I trust it completely. If JDM can make the first round a boxing match and force Rakhmonov to wonder whether his body still does what his brain asks, the upset is live.
The flip side: Rakhmonov has also gone five hard rounds. He went 25 minutes with Garry, his first decision win ever, and Garry later pushed Makhachev at UFC 330. That’s the same Garry who beat Prates over five rounds in 2025. Rakhmonov solved a puzzle that two of the top names in this division struggled with.
What it means
Win, and Rakhmonov is right back where he was before the knee: the undefeated name every champion has to answer for. If Morales wins in Toronto that same night, you’d have two 19-0 records (one would be 20-0, actually, either way) circling the same belt. Lose, and the division moves on without him, which is exactly what White said he wants.
For Della Maddalena, three straight losses at 170 would be brutal. A win over Rakhmonov makes the Makhachev and Prates fights look like rough nights against the best rather than a decline.
My pick is Rakhmonov by submission, and I’d circle Round 2 or 3. The rust is real, and JDM will probably win some minutes on the feet early. But he was finished in Round 3 by Prates and controlled for five by Makhachev, and Rakhmonov does his best work in exactly those late, grinding stretches. Give me the guy who found a choke with four seconds on the clock.
