Dec 09,2024
Ian Machado Garry suffered his first defeat after going the distance with the much-fancied Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
The welterweight prospect was the first fighter to take Shavkat Rakhmonov the distance in the octagon, however, Garry came out the wrong side of a close contest with his opponent taking the verdict by unanimous decision, 48-47, 48-47, 48-47.
Rakhmonov improved to 19-0, while Dubliner Garry fell to 15-1. Rakhmonov is now scheduled to face welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in his next fight.
"In victory and in defeat, I'm still the same person," said Garry, speaking at the post-fight press conference. "I am humble in victory and defeat, I always have been.
"And I do not feel like I lost today. My hand might not have got raised, but I came out and I fought a giant, I came out and I fought the bogeyman. And I showed that he’s f****** human.
"I went out there on three weeks’ notice and 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 that he looked like he would finish 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 in 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 is no holes in my game, there was nothing that man brought from me tonight…
"He won by opinion, and that is ok, I can live with that, and I am very happy with my performance tonight."
Muhammad, who was at the bout Saturday, was initially scheduled to fight Rakhmonov before Muhammad suffered a foot injury in the weeks leading upto the fight.
In the main event, Alexandre Pantoja made quick work of Kai Asakura with a second-round submission to defend his flyweight title.
"This is the level, the UFC level," Pantoja said after the win.
Pantoja (29-5) has won seven in a row and defended his title for the third time.
Before the submission, both men kept their distance and remained on their feet in the opening round.
Despite an initial flying knee from Asakura, Pantoja landed 32 significant strikes to Asakura's 17.
Asakura (21-5) was a two-time RIZIN bantamweight champion before vacating the belt in June to join UFC.
Heavyweight Ciryl Gane earned a split-decision victory over Alexander Volkov (38-11). The judges scored the bout 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
Gane (13-2) utilised two submission attempts to stifle Volkov's attack. Gane ended Volkov'sfour-fight unbeaten streak.
The pair met in June 2021, with Gane winning the initial encounter by decision.
Despite a lackluster performance, featherweight Bryce Mitchell used a takedown and multiple elbows to earn a third-round TKO win against Kron Gracie. It was Mitchell's first fight in nearly a year as he improved to 17-3. Gracie (5-3) has lost his past three fights.
Featherweights Doo Ho Choi and Nate Landwehr opened the main card. Choi gave Landwehr little space to work, dominating several striking exchanges, which eventually led to a late third-round TKO victory.
Choi (16-4-1) has won his past two fights, while Landwehr (18-6) suffered his first loss since June 2023.
