Ian Machado Garry gave Shavkat Rakhmonov the toughest test of his career—a test that he’s not entirely sure his past sparring partner passed.
Saturday’s UFC 310 co-main event saw Garry and Rakhmonov clash for five rounds with the No. 1 contender spot at 170 pounds on the line. In a bout that was high on technical ability and occasionally light on action, Rakhmonov edged out a win on the scorecards with a trio of 48-47 marks. That improved Rakhmonov’s pro record to 19-0, while Garry the first loss of his 16-fight career.
That setback didn’t discourage Garry in the slightest as he spoke confidently of his performance to the media at the evening’s post-fight presser.
“I am humble in victory and defeat, I always have been, and I do not feel like I lost today,” Garry said. “My hand might not have got raised, but I came out and I fought a giant. I came out and I fought the boogeyman and I showed that he’s f*cking human. I went out there on three weeks’ notice, I saved this event, I saved this card against the scariest man in the division and I went out there and I stopped almost everything.
“There was at no point where he looked like he finished the fight, I put him in two submissions. I took his back. I had fun. I showed that I can hang with the single best of the division and I proved tonight on short notice that I can absolutely be a champion and I can do it for five rounds and there’s no holes in my game. There’s nothing that man brought for me tonight. He won by opinion and that’s OK. I can live with that and I’m very happy with my performance tonight.”
Garry was a replacement for UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who was scheduled to fight Rakhmonov in Saturday’s main event before being forced to withdraw due to a foot infection. That changed the stakes of the contest for Rakhmonov, who remains in line to fight Muhammad after edging out the win over Garry.
Given how close the scoring was, Garry doesn’t think he’s far off from where Rakhmonov stands in the rankings.
“I went out there against the scariest man and I nearly f*cking finished him,” Garry said. “That shows that I have a championship mentality. Twenty-five minutes, I stood in there across from him, he didn’t have anything more than I have. I stopped every single one of his takedowns, it was clean, I made him fight tooth and nail for everything. That shows the level of talent I have and I deserve to be one of the best in the world and I deserve more respect from this now.”
Garry and Rakhmonov battled each other in all phases of the game, with much of the contest being comprised of grueling grappling battles against the fence. Despite Rakhmonov’s reputation as an elite wrestler, he had to work to score takedowns against Garry, who is known more as a striker.
The ground battle was so competitive that Garry actually threatened with a rear-naked choke in the final round, which Rakhmonov ably defended before finding his way back into top position. Garry was asked if he feels they’ll rematch someday and he actually foresees a future where they have a trilogy.
“I said it before the fight, I said it to you guys before, I believe that he is better than everybody else and I believe that I am better than everybody else and we are going to see each other multiple times in our career,” Garry said. “I do not believe that we are going to see each other one more time, I think it might be twice. I think he’s that good and I know I’m that good.”
For now, Garry is happy to have silenced many of his critics, including the oddsmakers who had the Irishman pegged as one of the biggest underdogs on the card. It wasn’t his day, but should he cross paths with Rakhmonov in the cage again, he’s certain the result will be different.
“For me, it’s constant growth and evolution and as you rise up the ladder—You look at the fight with Neil Magny,” Garry said. “Domination from start to finish. You look at the fight with Geoff Neal. I went out there, I beat a man who hits like a truck. I beat him clean, I beat him efficiently, and I did it well. [Michael Page], no one likes to strike with that man. I went out and I clinically dismantled his striking. Caught his kick, took him down, controlled him. Now I went out there against the scariest man. I’m fighting all the people people don’t want to fight and people are turning me down left, right, and center. I am nothing but a gamer, I have nothing but respect for everyone that I work with and everyone that I fight. I will be a champion one day.
“Today is a testimony to how hard I work, how talented I am, and that that guy, 18-0, 18 finishes before this fight, came in, didn’t look like he was that boogeyman today, did he? Did he look the same? I will be back and I will beat that man, I promise you that, and I am so excited for that day.
