Shavkat Rakhmonov responds to Garry’s title push, reminding him who won their last UFC fight

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Shavkat Rakhmonov has responded to Ian Machado Garry’s calls for a UFC title shot, firing back with a stinging post on social media.

The Irish welterweight prospect suffered his only professional loss to Rakhmonov last December at UFC 310, dropping a razor-thin decision. But while Garry bounced back quickly, Rakhmonov hasn’t fought since, still recovering from injuries picked up in that fight.

In the meantime, Garry has put together impressive wins over Carlos Prates and former champion Belal Muhammad, moving ahead of Rakhmonov in the rankings. With both men positioned near the top of the division, it’s unclear who will get the first shot at Islam Makhachev.

Shavkat Rakhmonov fires back at Ian Garry title talk with harsh social media post

Shavkat Rakhmonov isn’t known for jumping into trash talk, especially since English isn’t his first language. But he didn’t hold back on X, making his case for why he deserves the next shot at the welterweight title over Ian Machado Garry.

“No trash talk, just facts,” Rakhmonov wrote in surprisingly fluent English. “Ian Garry lost to me while I was injured. He hasn’t finished anyone in his last six fights, and Prates nearly stopped him. Doesn’t sound like a #1 contender to me.”

Rakhmonov has yet to respond, but he has spent the past few days since his UFC Qatar victory telling anyone who will listen about why he should be the division’s top contender. And the official rankings now reflect that, as he sits at number two behind only former champion Jack Della Maddalena, who just lost his belt.

Rakhmonov has been sidelined since that fight with Garry, citing injuries that he says were already bothering him before stepping into the cage. That claim is questionable though considering how much damage is caused by oblique kicks which are known for causing knee issues.

There had been speculation that he would return in January, but now the Kazakh star claims it could be February or March by the time he is back in the octagon. That would mark as many as 14 months that he has been out of action.