Ian Machado Garry changed clothes in between rounds during his UFC 310 co-main event clash with Shavkat Rakhmonov.
UFC 310 featured new hairdos, security blunders, and fan fights in another wild evening in Las Vegas. In the co-main event, Ian Machado Garry had to adjust more than solely his strategy mid-fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Garry lost to Rakhmonov by unanimous decision to suffer his first career defeat. The former Kill Cliff FC teammates had a back-and-forth battle, and when the volume picked up in the later rounds, it excited the fans in attendance.
But, Garry suffered a bizarre form of mid-fight adversity against Rakhmonov as he consulted with his corner in between rounds.
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Ian Machado Garry made bizarre history in first career defeat
During a meeting with his corner, Garry showed that he’d ripped part of his fight shorts during his early round exchanges with Rakhmonov. Instead of continuing to fight on with the rip, Garry stripped down to just his underwear, and one of his coaches gave him a backup pair of shorts.
It was a wild moment in UFC history that grabbed the attention of UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier during the broadcast. The broadcast crew exclaimed that Garry’s blooper was a UFC first, and were confused by the whole incident.
A cameraman caught Garry’s mid-fight wardrobe change, and the clip quickly went viral on social media.
Ian Machado Garry loses shorts, fight vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310
Unfortunately for Garry, his new shorts weren’t enough to give him the positive mojo needed to rally to a win, as he lost to Rakhmonov on all three judges’ scorecards. But, he had Rakhmonov in deep trouble during several late-round submission attempts and nearly forced his opponent to tap to a choke.
Garry entered UFC 310 undefeated in his professional career with recent wins over Michael ‘Venom’ Page, Geoff Neal, and Neil Magny. Before signing with the UFC in 2021, Garry captured the Cage Warriors welterweight championship and joined the promotion as one of the world’s top welterweight prospects.
Rakhmonov will now likely face UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad for his next fight after UFC 310. He and Muhammad were scheduled to headline UFC 310 before Muhammad withdrew due to an infection.
Garry isn’t the only fighter to opt to take off his fight shorts in the Octagon, but heavyweight Derrick Lewis did it post-fight. Lewis took off his shorts and swung them over his head during his post-fight celebration after a knockout win at UFC 291.
As Garry looks to bounce back from his first career defeat, UFC 310 will be memorable in more ways than one. The mid-fight switcheroo adds to a growing list of bizarre occurrences in the UFC Octagon.