After it was revealed this week that UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has withdrawn from his UFC 310 title defence against Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ireland’s Ian Machado Garry says that he is more than willing to fill the gap.
Muhammad, who won the UFC’s 170-pound title from Leon Edwards this past summer, took to social media on Thursday to confirm reports that he had withdrawn from the UFC 310 fight card after sustaining an injury to his foot; a move which led to a host of fighters putting their hand up to fight the unbeaten Kazakh.
Rakhmonov, meanwhile, posted to social media to wish Muhammad well and said that they would fight when he is 100% healthy — but in the meantime, said that he desired to compete in a bout for an interim title at 170-pounds — something which would appear unlikely, given that it is just a few months since Muhammad won the title.
— “The Future” Ian Machado Garry (@iangarryMMA) October 31, 2024
7th-ranked Garry, a perfect 8-0 in the UFC (15-0) overall, took to social media early on Friday to indicate his interest in fighting Rakhmonov — with who he has previously trained at Florida’s Kill Cliff facility — posting a mocked up image of a staredown between the two unbeaten fighters, as well as posting prior comments he made about his potential opponent.
“There’s some big names, there’s some cool matchups,” Garry said in the post-fight press conference following his win over Michael ‘Venom’ Page earlier this month. “There’s Shavkat. 18-0, undefeated. I’d love to get my hands on him. I have trained with him — I have nothing but respect for the guy but I want to be the first guy to take his ‘0’. I know I can do it.
“That fight excites me so much,” he added. “I have nothing but respect for the dude, it’s purely [that] I don’t want anyone else to beat him before me. He’s 18-0, I’m 15-0. Let’s go out there and put on a show and let’s see who’s really better.”
UFC 310 takes place in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, December 7.
