Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310 should be captivating theatre

In a sport where losses are a fact of life for all but a few rare talents, Saturday night’s UFC 310 co-main event stands out as an anomaly: a five-round, non-title pairing between a pair of undefeated contenders, battling to see who will enter 2025 with pole position for the next welterweight title shot.

But the matchup between Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0) and Ian Machado Garry (15-0) extends well beyond being simply a clash between unbeaten standouts vying for the chance to challenge for championship gold next year.

In fact, it might be one of the most compelling and intriguing fights of the entire 2024 UFC slate.

A CHANGE IN PLANS

This wasn’t how things were originally scheduled to play out this weekend.

When the lineup for UFC 310 was initially announced, Rakhmonov was set to face off with reigning welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in the main event, which was a fascinating matchup in its own right. But a few weeks after the bout was announced, Muhammad took to social media to share pictures and videos of his foot swollen into a bulbous, painful-looking mess because of a bone infection that would force him from the contest.

Rakhmonov took to social media to wish the champion a speedy recovery and then take aim at the other contenders in the welterweight division, questioning the veracity of their callouts and the constant posturing that happens whenever an opportunity like this opens up.

Not long after Muhammad was forced out of the contest, Machado Garry was announced as one half of the final main event pairing of the year in Tampa, Florida in an interesting, but somewhat surprising matchup with Joaquin Buckley on Dec. 14.

Unbeaten in 15 professional fights with more than half of those wins coming inside the Octagon — and coming off a bout with Michael “Venom” Page where he “fought backwards” in the rankings — the Irish standout felt like someone that would be “fighting forward” his next time out, so to see him paired off with the dangerous and surging Buckley caught many by surprise.

The opening opposite Rakhmonov created a new opportunity, though, and Machado Garry quickly put himself forward to face the undefeated Kazakh, posting a Photoshopped face-off image of the two of them declaring his readiness.

Two weeks later, the fight was made: Rakhmonov vs. Machado Garry, a combined 33-0 as professionals, in a five-round co-main event at UFC 310.

Once the bout was official, both men returned to social media to voice their disappointment with their contemporaries that — according to them — failed to step up when the opportunity presented itself, with Machado Garry adding one additional bit of information that speaks to the greater depth and complexity of this pairing.

FROM TEAMMATES TO OPPONENTS

Not only are Saturday’s co-main competitors unbeaten standouts in the welterweight division, but they are former teammates and training partners as well.

The duo logged plenty of time alongside one another at Kill Cliff FC, the South Florida outpost that has features an all-star cast of athletes and coaches, including Michael Chandler and Gilbert Burns, as well as coaches Henri Hooft and Greg Jones.

Machado Garry has since shifted his approach to training, opting for more of a “travel the world, train different places” methodology, opposed to the more common “one place, one team” tactic employed by most, but that familiarity from having worked together in the past in an undeniably fascinating wrinkle to this already compelling matchup.

This is one of the odd dichotomies that exist in mixed martial arts: while it is clearly an individual sport in that you alone step into the cage to compete, success is often influenced, if not predicated, by the people you surround yourself with, both in terms of coaches and training partners.

“Iron Sharpens Iron” isn’t just an easily repeated axiom, but a reality in most cases, and there is little doubt both Rakhmonov and Machado Garry benefitted from working alongside and against one another in that room, but what does it mean when it comes to their fight on Saturday night?

It’s impossible to say with any certainty, and chances are we’re not going to hear either of them telling tales about how things went down between them, as they’ve both expressed a tremendous amount of respect for one another throughout all of this, but those moments will undoubtedly help inform how each of them approaches this matchup.

Neither is going to stray from who they are naturally as fighters, but if there are areas where they feel they had success against the other or tells they believe they can exploit, each will surely look to do so in the cage.

AN OUTSTANDING FIGHT

As much as the fact that these two have trained together in the past and the manner in which this fight came together add a little spice to this matchup, at the end of the day, this is an outstanding contest on its own, and it’s important to remember that.

Far too often, we allow ourselves to get wrapped up in the squabbles and social media-ness of fights and events, overlooking or under-valuing quality fights because there are no secondary or tertiary elements connected to the contests; they’re just great matchups.

And while there are additional pieces to this one, at its core, this is simply a tremendous matchup between a pair of ascending talents that have been on a trajectory towards championship gold from the moment they set foot in the Octagon for the first time, and this weekend in Las Vegas, their paths cross with a championship opportunity likely hanging in the balance.

Rakhmonov isn’t just undefeated. He has finished each of his 18 career wins inside the distance. He has only been out of the second round twice in his career (once in the UFC) and while there is always a tendency to question the level of competition someone has faced when they’ve racked up a string of finishes and an unbeaten record, it’s impossible to criticize and pick apart his CV at this point.

The 30-year-old debuted by submitting Alex “Cowboy” Oliveira in his promotional debut, instantly establishing that he was worth of a place in the Second 15 in the welterweight division. Following wins over Michel Prazares and Carlston Harris, Rakhmonov started working his way into and up the divisional ranks.

He submitted Neil Magny in June 2022, passing the veteran litmus test all aspiring contenders must clear in the 170-pound ranks, and then tapped out Geoff Neal in the final minute of what has been his most gruelling battle to date inside the Octagon. Last December, he ambled into the cage and leaned on his grappling to finish Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to move to 6-0 under the UFC banner and establish himself as one of the top contenders in the division.

You can make the same case for Machado Garry, who touched down in the UFC amidst even greater fanfare and has done well to live up to his advanced billing and reach the lofty expectations that were foisted upon him.

After wrapping up his Cage Warriors run with a welterweight title win over Jack Grant in June 2021, Machado Garry debuted in the UFC at Madison Square Garden, beginning his tenure with a first-round knockout win over Jordan Williams.

At the time — and he may object to it being presented this way — the Irish prospect was playing from the Conor McGregor handbook, aping the former two-division world champion at times in order to expedite his ascent and stand out in a crowded field.

It didn’t quite land right because, as the chant goes, “There’s Only One Conor McGregor,” and a pair of decision wins over Darian Weeks and Gabe Green in 2022 took a little bit of the attention away off Machado Garry, who was starting to get comfortable both inside the Octagon and in the public eye as his true, authentic self.

He closed out his 2023 campaign with a triumph over Magny, passing that same test Rakhmonov had aced a little over a year earlier, before edging out Neal on the scorecards at UFC 298 in February and leaning on his grappling advantage to win a high-risk, low-reward fight with Page at UFC 303 in June.

While it hasn’t been as flashy or definitive as his opponent’s run, Machado Garry’s climb up the rankings has been highlighted by sound decision-making, clear growth, and a hint of uncertainty about how much more the globe-trotting Irishman has yet to show people inside the cage. He’s settled into life as a polarizing figure in this sport, and deserves all the praise in the world for stepping up on short notice to face someone few in the division have been keen on facing, even with the benefit of a full training camp.

Stylistically, it’s going to be fascinating to see how this one plays out, as both are skilled in every facet, but approach fights in very different manners.

Rakhmonov is a hunter, each attack meant to create openings and opportunities to chase down a finish, whether standing or on the ground. He has sharp technique in all realms, but is at his best when pushing the action, working off the reactions he forces out of his opponents; content to take a shot or wade into the fire if it means landing one of his own or getting into a position where he can manufacture a finish.

Machado Garry is much more of a tactician, intent on using all the weapons and elements at his disposal to beat you in the cleanest way possible. His strikes are long, precise, and sharp, and his grappling continues to improve and advance thanks to extended work with Diego Lima and the Chute Boxe team in Sao Paulo, and the great Damian Maia. It’s not that “The Future” isn’t capable of finishing or will not exploit those opportunities should they present themselves, but he’s not going to force the issue if picking you apart at range or neutralizing you on the canvas is already working.

That interplay between the aggressive Rakhmonov and tactical Machado Garry and how it resolves itself is the greatest hook to this fight, even more so than their combined unbeaten records and the championship opportunity on the line.

At UFC 310, fans are going to find out a great deal about both of these men, each of whom should remain in the title picture for the foreseeable future.

This is captivating theatre and a colossal matchup between two unbeaten stars that have thus far lived up to the hype, and the fact that each is willing to risk their place in the pecking order in such a high stake, high risk pairing makes this absolute must-see TV this weekend.