Does this fight have an undercurrent of revenge and personal stakes? Shavkat Rakhmonov has been vocal about his sparring sessions with Ian Machado Garry, the man who challenged him to a brawl in their recent UFC 310 preview.
Rakhmonov was asked about the footage released recently that showed their spar session. He confirmed he trained around three or four times with Garry, and during one of those sessions, Garry’s wife filmed the sparring session, but didn’t ask if the footage could be released after the session.
“We sparred around three or four times man,” Rakhmonov explained through a translator. He continued, “His wife asked me if she can film the footage of the sparring. I accepted it, but they didn’t ask me if they could release it or not.” The video, however, wasn’t what Rakhmonov expected.
“I wonder why they didn’t release the other part of the sparring. [In the other footage], Ian Garry taps. Yeah, it was a simple submission, a choke.”
It’s clear Rakhmonov has not been pleased with how the video has been presented, and he feels that what wasn’t shown is more indicative of what happened in their training session. This sparring session was crucial for both fighters, but Rakhmonov feels this footage has been misrepresented and will affect the outcome of the fight.
The question remains: what does this say about Rakhmonov’s confidence going into UFC 310? Will he dominate his opponent to cement his place as a top contender in the UFC welterweight division?