Unbeaten Stars On Collision Course
A massive clash between two unbeaten prospects has been announced to take place at UFC 310 at T-Mobile Arena on December 7th.
Following welterweight champion Belal Muhammad’s withdrawal from his scheduled first title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0) in the main event, rumors had circulated that veterans of the division such as Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman were in the frame to face the Kazakh sensation for an interim belt.
Another fighter who has been soaring through the welterweight rankings on a similar trajectory to Rakhmonov, Ian Machado Garry, was also rumored to be in the mix and he went as far as to plead his case for taking the fight when news of Muhammad’s withdrawal initially broke. Garry reposted a clip of himself speaking earlier this year about the prospect of fighting his former training partner, and followed that up by posting a pic of the two squaring off with the caption: “I’m right here Rakhmonov, always on weight”.
Garry seemed to cease to be an option a week ago when it was confirmed that he would be facing Joaquin Buckley on December 14th in Tampa, but it seems the UFC have done an about-turn on that idea as the Irishman has just been confirmed to face Rakhmonov over five rounds a week earlier.
Only ONE undefeated streak will survive đź‘€@Rakhmonov1994 vs @IanGarryMMA is the 5-round co-main event for #UFC310! pic.twitter.com/y2MgsMYkx7
— UFC (@ufc) November 16, 2024
“I’m Very Disappointed In Our Division”
UFC 310’s original co-main event, a flyweight title fight between Alexandre Pantoja and Kai Asakura, has been bumped up to the main event slot and Rakhmonov and Garry will happen immediately beforehand. Although there won’t be an interim title on the line, the winner will likely receive the next shot at winning Belal Muhammad’s belt.
Garry announced the fight when he posted a video on Friday night in which he calimed that both Covington and Usman turned down the opportunity to face Rakhmonov.
Shavkat Rakhmonov went as far as to call out every contender at 170lbs and accused them all of letting the fans down, and he apromosed to end Garry’s unbeaten run and use the Irishman as a stepping stone toward fighting for the belt.
I’m very disappointed in our division. Belal, Leon, Colby, Kamaru, Jack, Sean – you’ve all let fans down. The only one who backed up his words is Ian, and I respect that. But make no mistake, @iangarryMMA – I’m coming for your 0 and will fight for the belt after https://t.co/eE3Ps8aCoj
— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) November 16, 2024
Former Cage Warriors champion Garry is 8-0 inside the UFC Octagon since his debut at UFC 268 back in 2021. Having suffered criticism for beating a trio of ranked fighters in Neil Magny, Geoff Neal and Michael “Venom” Page by way of decision in his last three outings, the Dubliner will be looking to prove to Dana White and the UFC fanbase that he is more than capable of taking out the best the welterweight division has to offer.
With Rakhmonov having finished every single opponent throughout his eighteen-fight professional career, the challenges at 170lbs don’t come much harder than this.
