Conor McGregor has made his position clear on Shavkat Rakhmonov: there will be no serious talk of a fight unless the challenger first acquires the title. It is a blunt answer, and one that keeps McGregor’s own future plans tightly controlled as he prepares to face Max Holloway at UFC 329.
The comment arrived on Wednesday and immediately narrowed the path to any future McGregor-Rakhmonov showdown. McGregor has two fights left on his UFC contract, but for now his focus is on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada, where he meets Holloway.
McGregor: no title, no conversation
McGregor did not dress it up. “Acquire the title for me to even consider,” was the condition he set out, before making it clear he is in no rush to chase a fight with Rakhmonov. “I know he had a heavy injury and he's building back from that. So, I'll leave him to it,” McGregor said.
That is the key point here. McGregor is not dismissing Rakhmonov’s ability outright, but he is also not treating him as an immediate priority. “I don't really think anything of him at the minute. He's got a lot of work to do,” he said, adding: “What has he got to offer me?”
The tone is measured, but the message is unmistakable. In McGregor’s view, Rakhmonov has not yet done enough to demand that kind of attention.
Where Rakhmonov stands now
Rakhmonov’s record makes him one of the more intriguing names in the division. He is 19-0 overall and 7-0 in the UFC, and he is a former M-1 Global Welterweight Champion. Born in Uzbekistan, he fights out of Kazakhstan.
His last outing came in December 2024, when he defeated Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision at UFC 310. In January, a knee injury was reported as keeping him out of action for 9 to 10 months.
That timeline matters because McGregor’s remarks are not about a ready-made title challenger waiting in the wings. They are about a fighter who is respected, but still in recovery and still needing to re-establish momentum before any big-name callout becomes realistic.
What this means for McGregor’s next move
For McGregor, this is also about control. After spending the past five years out of the picture because of several injuries and numerous legal issues, he is entering a stage where every decision will be judged against what comes next. Against that backdrop, it makes sense that he is choosing only the biggest, most meaningful fights.
His latest stance suggests the same old UFC logic still applies: status matters, and title relevance matters even more. Rakhmonov may be a dangerous fighter, but McGregor’s view is that danger alone is not enough. If the fight is ever going to happen, the belt comes first.
That leaves McGregor’s immediate spotlight on Holloway at UFC 329, while Rakhmonov remains a name for the future rather than the present. And in the broader conversation around the division, Ilia Topuria remains another key figure to watch as the title picture continues to shift.
