This past Saturday in the UFC 310 co-main event, Ian Machado Garry suffered the first loss of his career when he was beaten over five rounds by the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Following Belal Muhammad‘s withdrawal from the UFC 310 main event against Shavkat Rakhmonov, the undefeated Ian Machado Garry decided to step in on just three weeks’ notice to take on the Kazakh.
Unfortunately for ‘The Future’ he was handed the first loss of his career after a hard and extremely closely contested five rounds, missing out on the welterweight title shot, for now.
Chael Sonnen backs Ian Machado Garry despite first career loss
Although Machado Garry was handed the first loss of his career, he has come out of the weekend without losing stock, considering his performance against one of the most dangerous fighters on the roster.
Going into his first five-round fight, it was widely considered that the 27-year-old could end up struggling in the defensive grappling department, and that ‘The Nomad’ would dominate him on the ground.
However, the Irishman stuffed eight of Rakhmonov’s 10 takedown attempts, showcasing his well-rounded ability to keep the fight on the feet.
Someone who agrees that Machado Garry didn’t lose stock despite his loss, is UFC legend, Chael Sonnen.
Since retiring from the sport, Sonnen has remained a favorite amongst fans with his ever-growing YouTube channel and his analytical work on ESPN.
“Ian Garry physically did some things extremely well. Every time Rakhmonov closed the gap and got his hands on Garry, Garry backed up,” Sonnen began to explain on his YouTube channel.
“It was a big deal (on Saturday night), and Ian Garry won in several categories. Rakhmonov has never lost a position, you can’t say that anymore. Rakhmonov has never lost a round, I don’t know who those judges gave the fifth round to, I couldn’t hear, I bet they gave it to Garry though, I think (he won that),” he continued.
The Irishman did in fact win round three on all three of the judge’s scorecards and came extremely close to finishing the fight when he seemingly locked in a rear-naked choke, coming the closest to winning the fight out of the two.
“Ian Garry did what no other guy could do, plus 70%. That’s very impressive. I’m campaigning for Ian Garry,” Sonnen stated.
- TROLL RESPONSE: Belal Muhammad responds to Conor McGregor and Joe Rogan claiming that security didn’t know he was the champion at UFC 310
Sonnen believes Colby Covington could end up in an interim title fight against Rakhmonov
Despite the fact that following the UFC 310 co-main event they faced off Belal and Rakhmonov, Sonnen believes that an interim title fight could be introduced, with Muhammad downplaying his injury.
“Belal has a life-threatening infection in his leg. Belal should not have been there tonight. Belal is too tough and too brave to tell you guys that but that is what he’s dealing with… He can’t do 50 pushups right now.
“That fight is likely going to be delayed and we’ll see if we even get to that fight,” Sonnen claimed.
However, this coming Saturday, former interim welterweight champion, Colby Covington is set to return after over a year away from the Octagon, to take on Joaquin Buckley.
Sonnen has implored fans to not be ‘stunned’ if Covington returns to winning ways and finds himself in an interim title fight against the undefeated Kazakh.
“Do not be stunned if Colby rolls through Buckley and Colby draws into a fight against Rakhmonov for an interim championship, I’m just sharing that, don’t be stunned. But what do you do with Garry? Garry won tonight, for me, his stock went up tonight, for me,” Sonnen continued.
The UFC Hall of Famer suggested that the Irishman should fight former champion, Leon Edwards, in the main event at UFC London this coming March.
- DISPUTED: ‘He won by opinion’… Ian Machado Garry disputes his UFC 310 decision loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov