According to Shavkat Rakhmonov, upcoming opponent Ian Garry was among four UFC welterweights offered the short-notice assignment for this weekend.
Rakhmonov and Garry are set to co-headline UFC 310, which comes as the promotion's final pay-per-view of 2024. The pair will collide across five rounds with a future shot at Belal Muhammad's title on the line.
The Kazakh star was originally expecting his championship opportunity to come to fruition on Saturday night but an injury to Muhammad spoiled those plans. As a result, "Nomad" must now defend his status as top contender.
In "Remember the Name's" place has stepped Garry, who was initially preparing to headline next weekend's UFC Fight Night in Tampa against Joaquin Buckley. That booking evidently could have stayed together had one of three other names offered the Rakhmonov fight given positive responses.
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Rakhmonov claimed the UFC sent offers to three different names in the division — Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Carlos Prates.
The undefeated welterweight said Usman accepted before backing out, Covington straight up rejected, and an injury prevented the rising Prates from getting a big chance to climb the ranks into title contention.
I wanted to fight Kamaru Usman. But he didn’t accept the fight,” Rakhmonov said. “Also, they offered (it) to Prates, but he was injured. And Colby Covington, he rejected the fight. And I’m happy that Ian Garry accepted the fight. ... In the beginning, (Usman) accepted the fight, and then he rejected. Maybe he didn’t want to risk.
Garry will hope that their loss is his gain when he looks to be the one who takes Rakhmonov's '0' — and maintain his in the process.
The Kazakh and Irish fighters will set the stage for a championship main event inside T-Mobile Arena, as Alexandre Pantoja welcomes Kai Asakura to the UFC in defense of his flyweight belt.
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