Wrestle World - Kamaru Usman: Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry only exciting 'on paper'

Kamaru Usman isn’t confident that Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry will deliver action at UFC 310.

Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) takes on Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in a five-round welterweight co-main event Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Rakhmonov vs. Garry is a battle between two undefeated top contenders. Despite Rakhmonov boasting a 100 percent finish rate, Usman thinks Garry’s recent performances won’t result in the exciting matchup everyone is projecting.

“I like the matchup, but we have a tendency to get excited for these Ian Garry matchups, and they don’t turn out the way we think,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “I’m being honest. Did I not say the same thing about the Michael ‘Venom’ Page fight? That’s not a knock. It’s just the way that Ian Garry likes to fight. Ian Garry is a guy that loves space. He loves to make it look pretty. He loves to run off his combinations and move, move, move.

“Make it look pretty to where you have a guy like Shavkat, who is kind of a seek and destroy type of guy. He wants to get into the action. So, I like the matchup, of course. … I think it’s a good fight. Shavkat is going to come forward. He’s going to try to seek and destroy as he always does, and Ian Garry is going to move around to create the space, to try to find the good strikes. So, it’s a good fight on paper. I don’t know how it’s going to look on fight night.”

Having trained with both fighters at Kill Cliff FC, former UFC welterweight champion Usman didn’t address the rumors of Rakhmonov getting the best of Garry in practice. He expects their history on the training mats to add a little spice to the buildup.

Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry sparring pic.twitter.com/BJFPdzRcYX

— MMA Mania (@mmamania) November 18, 2024

“It’s an intriguing fight because there’s a little bit of backstory,” Usman said. “So, I think it’s going to make for a little bit more animosity as we get closer to the fight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not the most electrifying fight that we’ve ever seen like we’re expecting.”