LAS VEGAS – Ian Machado Garry has no problem admitting that Shavkat Rakhmonov made him tap in a past sparring session.
Machado Garry (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) confirmed at Wednesday’s UFC 310 media day the recent claims that Rakhmonov (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) made, saying that he pulled off a submission in a sparring session years ago at Kill Cliff in Florida, back when the two trained together. Although Machado Garry got the short end of their past exchange, the Irish contender believes it holds little weight ahead of their five-round co-main event bout at Saturday’s UFC 310.
“If he wants to latch onto a moment of success in training from two years ago and think I’m the same fighter I was then, then he would be sadly mistaken,” Machado Garry told reporters. “I don’t believe that he’s going to be latching to anything like that.
“I believe that he’s being honest, and he’s saying this happened – which it did. I’m not turning around and saying it didn’t, but if I sit here and tell you the names I’ve beaten in sparring, it’s just not relevant, and it would be a very different conversation. So, he has to do it on Saturday night. I’m going to go out there and show him I’m far better than he can imagine.”
Machado Garry was scheduled to fight Joaquim Buckley at UFC on ESPN 63 on Dec. 14. However, after champion Belal Muhammad was forced out of his first title defense at UFC 310 due to injury, Machado Garry had no problem stepping in to fight Rhakmonov.
He sees this as a perfect opportunity, and has all the confidence in the world he’ll be finishing off the year as the No. 1 contender at 170 pounds.
“The entire world knows I’m a gamer,” Machado Garry said. “They have given me nothing, but respect because I didn’t have to take this fight. I had a fight lined up next week. I’ve seen this opportunity as the baddest man of the division, and I was like, ‘You know what? Let me do that.’ The risk vs. reward is better than anything. … In this case, I get a shot at the title, I set myself as the No. 1 contender, and I remain undefeated, I take out who many consider the boogie man, I do it in beautiful fashion, and then I wipe the floor with Belal next year. It’s perfect.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.
