Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry Non Title Match Set

Undefeated welterweights will battle for the top spot at UFC 310.

When welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) was forced out of his title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) on Dec. 7 due to a bone infection in his foot, Rakhmonov urged for an interim title match against Kamaru Usman.

Both Ian Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) and Joaquin Buckley, who were set to face each other in the UFC on ESPN 63 headliner on December 14, threw their names in the hat to face Rakhmonov.

The UFC opted to go with Machado Garry, who will face Rakhmonov in a five-round co-main event non-title bout at UFC 310 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Dana White announced Friday. Buckley will now face Colby Covington.

Garry is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Michael Page at UFC 303 in June. Meanwhile, Rakhmonov recorded his sixth Octagon victory when he became the first to submit Stephen Thompson at UFC 296 in December.

Rakhmonov expressed disappointment in the welterweight division as a whole at X after the fight was announced.

I am very disappointed with our division. Belal, Leon, Colby, Kamaru, Jack, Sean – you have all failed fans. The only one who backed up his words is Ian and I respect that. But make no mistake, @iangarryMMA – I’m coming after your 0 and want to fight for the belt afterwards

— Shavkat “Nomad” Rakhmonov (@Rakhmonov1994) 16 November 2024

The winner of the UFC 310 fight is expected to challenge Muhammad for the belt when he returns to competition.

With the addition, the current UFC 310 lineup includes:

• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Kai Asakura – for flyweight title
• Ian Machado Garry vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
• Cyril Gane vs. Alexander Volkov
• Movsar Evloev vs. Aljamain Sterling
• Dominick Reyes vs. Anthony Smith
• Virna Jandiroba vs. TBA
• Clay Guida vs. Chase Hooper
• Michael Chiesa vs. Max Griffin
• Nick Diaz vs. Vicente Luque
• Cody Durden vs. Joshua Van
• Martin Buday vs. Rizvan Kuniev
• Bryan Battle vs. Randy Brown
• Lukasz Brzeski vs. Tallison Teixeira
• Doo Ho Choi vs. Nate Landwehr

For more on the card, visit the MMA Junkies event hub for UFC 310.