Dana White didn’t say no. Asked whether Michael Morales vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov is in the works, the UFC CEO said it could be, in a clip Championship Rounds posted to X on Wednesday.
Then he kept going. “We actually have a lot of cool stuff going on right now. We got a lot of good announcements coming. We’re going to have a good January/February,” White said.
That’s as close to a wink as White gets without an emoji, and I’d normally roll my eyes at it. This fight earns a pass.
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Two streaks, one division
Morales and Rakhmonov hold the two longest active UFC winning streaks at welterweight, seven apiece, according to MMA Junkie’s pre-event numbers for this weekend’s card in Edmonton. Gabriel Bonfim is next at five. Morales sits No. 3 in the UFC Meta Rankings updated this week, behind Carlos Prates and Ian Machado Garry.
Morales has been close to a title fight before. He was the backup for Islam Makhachev vs. Garry at UFC 330, where Makhachev took a back-and-forth unanimous decision in August to push his UFC win streak to 17. Morales never got the call off the bench, and the promotion went another direction for the next shot.
Prates appears to have the next crack
That direction is Prates. The Brazilian confirmed he was next in line after signing a new eight-fight deal, and he has the résumé to back it: 24-7 overall, with knockouts of all seven of his UFC opponents, including former welterweight champions Jack Della Maddalena and Leon Edwards in his last two fights.
MMA reporter Alvaro Colmenero wrote on X that “Prates can train hard now because, if the negotiations continue on their course, we’ll see the Brazilian fighting against Islam Makhachev next January 30 at #UFC336 in Toronto.” The UFC hasn’t confirmed the date or the venue, which is reportedly Scotiabank Arena. The timing fits Makhachev’s stated wish to fight before Ramadan, which is expected to begin around Feb. 8, 2027.
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So if Makhachev and Prates are penciled in for late January, a Morales vs. Rakhmonov booking in the same early-year window would set up the next challenger while the champ is still busy with the current one. White’s “good January/February” comment lines up neatly with that, though he didn’t connect those dots himself.
Edmonton first
The division has business this weekend. Joaquin Buckley (22-8) meets Mike Malott (14-2-1) in the UFC Fight Night 291 main event Saturday, Oct. 17, at Rogers Place. Malott brings a four-fight UFC win streak into his home country, tied for the fourth-longest active run at 170 pounds. Buckley is trying to snap a two-fight skid.
My take: book it. Morales already got skipped once, and two guys who’ve each won seven straight in the UFC shouldn’t spend 2027 waiting in separate lines for the same belt. Put them in a cage, and the winner walks out with the cleanest claim to whoever survives Makhachev vs. Prates. If White’s announcement drops in January, I’ll forgive the “could be.”
