It seems that Shavkat Rakhmonov is willing to throw 'water on the beer' of Ian Machado Garry's plans to move up to the middleweight division (up to 83,9kg) to face Khamzat Chimaev . The Kazakh fighter, who faces the Irishman in the co-main event of UFC 310 that takes place this Saturday (7), in Las Vegas, USA, was another besides 'Lobo' who spoke out after his opponent's statement to journalist 'Ariel Helwani'.
In the interview, Garry said that after defeating Rakhmonov on Saturday, he will win the welterweight title (up to 77kg) against Belal Muhammad , move up to the middleweight division, defeat Kahmzat Chimaev for a title shot, and thus win the title currently held by Dricus Du Plessis . A very bold plan.
But Shavkat Rakhmonov believes Ian Garry 's three-stage plan to fight Chimaev won't make it to the second stage. In an interview with MMA Fighting, the Kazakh fighter delivered a 'reality check' in response to his opponent.
“Yes, I think he will stumble at the first step,” Rakhmonov said.
Rakhmonov was scheduled to face Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 310 , but the reigning champion was forced to withdraw due to a bone infection. The undefeated fighter with 18 wins could have waited for Muhammad to recover, but decided to put his title shot on the line against Garry, who stepped in as a replacement.
“The main reason is because I haven’t fought for almost a year and we don’t know how long it will take for Belal to come back and recover, so I wanted to fight on this date to stay active and that’s why I agreed to fight Garry. Some people have doubts about me, but I don’t doubt myself, and probably after the fight with Ian Garry , they will change their minds. All of this will end with my hand raised with my victory,” he concluded.
Bad Wolf
Kamzat Chimaev also gave a response , a rather frightening one, when he saw that he had been included in Garry's future plans. Through his 'X' account (formerly Twitter), the 'Wolf' wrote:
“You are a very skinny boy, don't get close to the wolf's teeth, you will end up with your head cut off.”
Undefeated, Chimaev has 14 wins and is currently ranked third in the UFC middleweight division. His last victory was against former champion Robert Whittaker at UFC 308. Like 'The Wolf' and Rakhmonov, his opponent on Saturday, Garry is also undefeated in the organization. The Irish fighter has a record of 15 wins.
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