Ian Machado Garry believes he was the one who caused Shavkat Rakhmonov’s injury, which meant he couldn’t fight Belal Muhammad for the UFC welterweight championship.
Ian Machado Garry is quite clearly a top contender in the welterweight division. He has proven himself time and time again to be one of the best at 170 pounds and in his most recent outing, he really impressed when he managed to take Shavkat Rakhmonov to the limit. With that being said, he still wasn’t able to come away with the victory, leaving many to wonder where that leaves him within the title conversation.
We now know that instead of Shavkat getting a crack at Belal Muhammad, it’ll be Jack Della Maddalena who tries to pull off the upset and take home the gold. Ian Machado Garry, as you can probably imagine, isn’t particularly happy that he wasn’t the one selected – even though he lost his last fight.
Ahead of his clash with Carlos Prates, Ian Machado Garry gave fans an insight into his thought process.
Ian Machado Garry on Shavkat Rakhmonov claims
“I was seething… I think the word ‘withdrew’ is the word that kind of bugs me. I don’t believe Shavkat withdrew due to a choice of not wanting to fight for a title, but from what I’m hearing, an injury that I absolutely believe he sustained in the fight with me due to the amount of heel kicks I put to his knee… It makes logical sense to go to me.”
For Machado Garry, now is the time for him to show the world why he deserves that title shot. If he’s able to get past Carlos Prates, and do so in convincing fashion, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him leap ahead of Shavkat in the pecking order if the injury problems persist.
