Speaking from experience, Vicente Luque predicts Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry

Vicente Luque has some training insight into Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry.

Luque has trained with both Rakhmonov and Machado Garry at Kill Cliff FC. Machado Garry has since left the Florida-based gym and recently spent time training at Chute Boxe Diego Lima in Sao Paulo and Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA in Phuket.

Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) takes on Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in a five-round welterweight bout on Saturday in the UFC 310 co-main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Luque confirms that Rakhmonov is as good as advertised.

“I’ve trained recently with Shavkat for this fight,” Luque said on the “Overdogs Podcast.” “We’ve trained sometimes, and he’s really good. He’s really good. He’s not just hype. He’s very good all around. He strikes very well, he has good conditioning, good grappling, good wrestling, and I think he could definitely be a champion in the division.”

As for Machado Garry, Luque admits that it’s been years since they’ve last trained. He gave his verdict for the likely No. 1 contender clash.

“When we go to Shavkat and Ian, I’ve trained with Ian over two years ago,” Luque said. “So, from then, I’m sure that he has changed, he has gotten better. I think the edge he has is striking but not by much, and then grappling and wrestling for me, Shavkat is better. So I’m going to give, you know, Shavkat favorite on that fight.”

Luque (22-10-1 MMA, 15-6 UFC) also competes at UFC 310 when he takes on Themba Gorimbo (14-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC) in Saturday’s prelims (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.