Shavkat Rakhmonov is completely satisfied to nonetheless be competing at UFC 310, but when he had the selection, he would’ve gone with a distinct opponent.
Rakhmonov faces Ian Machado Garry within the five-round co-main occasion of Saturday’s pay-per-view card at T-Cellular Enviornment in Las Vegas. “Nomad” was initially slotted in the principle occasion spot to problem Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title earlier than the brand new champ was pressured out on account of harm.
Quite a lot of names had been supposedly mentioned as a alternative opponent, together with Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and even surging contender Carlos Prates. In the long run, it went to Garry, but when Rakhmonov had the selection, he would’ve gone with the previous, longtime champ.
“Usman [would’ve been my choice],” Rakhmonov instructed MMA Preventing. “He’s larger ranked than me, he’s a former champion and I imagine he’s the strongest opponent from the 4 of them. That’s why I needed this combat [over all of the others].”
With Garry stepping in to take the spot, that left a gap for the principle occasion of UFC Tampa on Dec. 14 at Amalie Enviornment as Garry was scheduled to face Joaquin Buckley in the principle occasion. Covington is now set to return to the octagon for the primary time since dropping a choice to then champ Leon Edwards a yr in the past at UFC 296 to face Buckley within the closing combat of 2024 for the UFC.
Rakhmonov believes Buckley has an excellent alternative to select up the most important win of his profession.
“Yeah, I wasn’t stunned,” Rakhmonov stated. “I don’t know who’s going to win, however I imagine Buckley has [a better] probability to get the [win].”
