UFC 310: Shavkat Rakhmonov Wins, But Ian Machado Garry’s Stock Just Went Higher | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Shavkat Rakhmonov is as soon as once more set for a crack on the UFC welterweight title, however he got here far nearer to dropping that chance to Ian Machado Garry than most struggle followers anticipated.

Kazakhstan’s Rakhmonov, 30, was initially set to problem welterweight champ Belal Muhammad for the title in the principle occasion of Saturday’s UFC 310 card in Las Vegas. When Muhammad was pressured out of the struggle with a severe an infection in his toe, nevertheless, Rakhmonov accepted a short-notice struggle along with his fellow contender and former coaching companion Ian Machado Garry.

The reserving was an instantaneous hit amongst followers, as Rakhmonov would enter the cage with an 18-0 report — and a shocking one hundred pc ending price — whereas Eire’s Garry was additionally undefeated, at 15-0. Nonetheless, the widespread expectation was that Rakhmonov would win handily — in all probability by the use of stoppage.

That is not the way in which it occurred. As a substitute, the Rakhmonov lastly misplaced maintain of his flawless ending price, settling for a intently contested unanimous choice.

“Ian Garry is a good opponent and it confirmed within the struggle,” the soft-spoken Kazakh mentioned in his post-fight interview with commentator Joe Rogan. “I am glad I received. Thanks for supporting me.”

The struggle received off to a reasonably sluggish begin.

In a considerably shocking flip, Rakhmonov relied closely on his clinch recreation within the early going, racking up greater than three minutes of management time in opposition to the cage by the tip of the primary spherical. He opened up a bit extra in rounds two and three — as did Garry — however he nonetheless spent a lot of these 10 minutes urgent his opponent into the chainlink.

Shavkat finally scored his first takedown of the fight in round four — he succeeded on just two of 10 attempts overall — however the Irishman considerably cranked up the offense by way of the championship rounds. His greatest second got here within the fifth spherical when he got here very near ending his foe with a rear-naked choke — shut sufficient that Rogan and Cormier have been pushed right into a frenzy of pleasure.

“That was shut,” DC mentioned, solely to have Rogan repeat the identical sentence seconds later.

Rakhmonov, in fact, survived the submission try, however as his choice victory was introduced by Octagon announcer Bruce Buffer, he appeared extra human than ever earlier than thank to Garry’s spectacular effort.

Whereas it was not the blowout many followers anticipated, Rakhmonov’s UFC 310 win reasserted him as the highest contender for Muhammad’s title, and any lingering doubt that he’s subsequent in line disappeared when the champion entered the cage for a face-off with the unbeaten Kazakh.

“I am excited,” the criminally underrated Muhammad mentioned because the followers within the T-Cellular area booed, and shiny blue Kazakh flags waved within the bleachers. “I hear the group booing, these boos are gonna flip to tears.”

“No extra accidents,” Rakhmonov responded, referencing the an infection that induced their deliberate UFC 310 struggle to collapse. “We’ll discover out who’s higher.”

It stays to be seen when Muhammad and Rakhmonov will meet within the cage, nevertheless, the champion has been cleared to compete, so it needs to be someday within the first half of the brand new yr. Each time it occurs, it is going to be one of the anticipated fights on the calendar.

After his rousing efficiency in opposition to Rakhmonov, Garry’s subsequent struggle needs to be virtually as anticipated because the title struggle. Whereas he’ll undoubtedly spend the subsequent few weeks mourning the lack of his undefeated report, he proved himself as a really elite welterweight at UFC 310, and it might not be remotely shocking to see him combating for the belt — and maybe even rematching Rakhmonov — someday within the subsequent few years.