Michael Bisping has named one factor that will decide UFC 310’s co-main event.
Irish welterweight superstar Ian Machado Garry challenges Shavkhat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in the co-main event bout.
Both men are undefeated in professional MMA, with a combined total of 33 fights and will compete for interim champion status on December 7.
In the main event, Alexandre Pantoja puts his flyweight belt on the line against Japan’s knockout artist Kai Asakura, who is making his UFC debut.
Rakhmonov was originally scheduled to fight for the welterweight title in UFC 310’s main event.
But Belal Muhammed, the reigning champion, was forced to withdraw from the fight after suffering from a grotesque bone infection in his foot.
Rakhmonov is a submission specialist, having finished five of his six UFC opponents via either a rear naked choke or guillotine choke.
He has never gone the distance in any of his UFC bouts, unlike Garry, his opponent on December 7.
“I’ve said this before, you gotta have a lot of respect for Ian Garry,” said the former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
“He didn’t have to take this fight, but can he stop the takedown? Shavkat Rakhmonov, he’s very tall for the division, as is Ian Garry. They’re both six foot three, and they’re both competent strikers.
“Ian Garry’s probably gonna dance around the octagon and use the exact same game plan that he did against Geoff Neal.
“He’s gotta keep Shavkat Rakhmonov off him, okay? If he can’t stop the takedown, he will get finished. And that is no disrespect to Ian Garry.”
Garry, 27, who fights out of Dublin, Ireland, is unbeaten in 15 pro MMA bouts, with his Kazakhstan counterpart having experienced three more victories.
He made his UFC debut in November 2021, after being crowned the welterweight champion in Irish-owned MMA promotion Cage Warriors, in similar style to the likes of Conor McGregor and Paddy ‘The Baddy’ Pimblett.
No.7 ranked UFC welterweight Garry avoided going to the ground with Geoff Neal in his UFC 298 bout, and subsequently earned a split decision victory.
He beat London’s Michael ‘Veom’ Page via unanimous decision in his last octagon appearance in July at UFC 303 on the undercard of Alex Pereira vs Jiri Prochazka 2.
“He might be able to dance around, use the reach, use the range, use the movement, be fast, be elusive, be nice and crisp, be light on his toes, and be dedicated enough to not allow himself to get involved into a brawl,” Bisping added.
“If he does that, Shavkat’s gonna get a hold of him. If he gets a hold of him, he’s gonna get him down. And if he gets him down, It’s gonna be lights out.
‘Look at Shavkat’s last fight, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, a man that has spent his entire life stopping takedowns.
“But what did Shavkat do? Boxed his way into a clinch, and then slowly but surely, methodically worked his way down.
“So the story in this fight is simple. Can Ian Garry stop the takedown? Because if he can’t, someone’s zero is gonna go, and that’s probably gonna be Ian Garry’s.
“But he does have a path to victory of using the range, sticking, and moving. The crowd will boo, but who cares about the crowd? Winning is all that matters.”
Stephen Thompson had never been submitted in his 12-year UFC career, until he met Rakhmonov at UFC 296 in December 2023.
‘Nomad’ will aim to drag Garry to the ground and finish the Irishman early to avoid a scenario where he his knocked out.
The winner of the co-main event bout will likely face Muhammad for a title shot in their next UFC bout, and could also end up fighting Birmingham’s Leon Edwards in the near future.
Edwards dropped the welterweight belt to Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304 in Manchester.
He confirmed at the beginning of December that he will headline UFC’s return to the UK at the O2 Arena on March 22, 2025, although there is yet to be any official confirmation.
