Shavkat Rakhmonov (left) and Ian Machado Garry react after a five-round welterweight fight, which the former won by decision.Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Shavkat Rakhmonov is once again set for a crack at the UFC welterweight title, but he came far closer to losing that opportunity to Ian Machado Garry than most fight fans expected.
Kazakhstan's Rakhmonov, 30, was originally set to challenge welterweight champ Belal Muhammad for the title in the main event of Saturday's UFC 310 card in Las Vegas. When Muhammad was forced out of the fight with a serious infection in his toe, however, Rakhmonov accepted a short-notice fight with his fellow contender and former training partner Ian Machado Garry.