Garry and Rakhmonov spent time training together at Kill Cliff FC, where Shavkat reportedly said he thought Ian would become champion.
Ian Garry is going to be a UFC champion someday.
That’s according to Ian Garry’s next opponent, Shavkat Rakhmonov … or more accurately, that’s what Ian says Shavkat said about him.
Garry is set to face Rakhmonov in the co-main event of UFC 310. It’s a fight that was originally supposed to see Shavkat fight Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title, but a bone infection derailed that. Now the two former Kill Cliff FC teammates will scrap, and the winner will face Muhammad next.
Ian Garry claims Shavkat Rakhmonov told his head coach, Henri Hooft, that Ian would be a champion:
“He said Shavkat knows you’re going to be the champion one day but he says me first and him later”#UFC310 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/17AzmFf5ik
— Delinquent MMA (@DelinquentMMA) December 1, 2024
“The Future” is known for generating drama in the lead-up to his fights, but so far he’s been nothing but respectful of “Nomad.” During the new UFC 310 Countdown show, he paid Shavkat his dues, but claims even Shavkat knows Garry is the future at 170.
“Me and Shavkat trained a lot together,” Garry said. “I think he’s a phenomenal fighter. [Kill Cliff coach] Henri Hooft told me Shavkat Rakhmonov and him had a conversation, and he said ‘Shavkat knows you’re going to be the champion one day. But he says ‘Me first and him later.’ So.”
“It’s unfortunate that one of us is going to have to lose,” he concluded. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that he’s not getting his hand raised.”
While Rakhmonov is still at Kill Cliff, Garry left after the UFC booked him against another training partner there, Vicente Luque. Things got frosty quick, with Brendan Allen threatening to release tape of Garry getting KTFO at the gym. Another Kill Cliff fighter, Michael Chandler, also said Garry brought little to camp other than a bad attitude.
Will Henri Hooft back up what Garry said? Will Shavkat cop to it? Or are we about to hear more from Garry’s former camp on what a chump Ian was, not a champ?