Chael Sonnen thinks Ian Garry ‘won’ his much-awaited UFC 310 clash against Shavkat Rakhmonov. In this sense, ‘Uncle Chael’ hastened to add on his official YouTube channel, that Garry earned a lot of respect for his performance. After all, most had predicted a one-sided romp by Rakhmonov, the seemingly unstoppable boogeyman of the division.

But not only did ‘The Future’ give the Kazakh quite a fight, taking him to the final bell for the first time, but also nearly choked Rakhmonov out in the fifth round. Despite these moments, however, Rakhmonov prevailed and won a unanimous decision in the end. Not to mention ‘Nomad’ seemed remarkably hesitant to engage Garry on the feet, and didn’t look like his usual dominant self.

Now the question, however, on everyone’s mind is- who will Garry fight next? UFC analyst extraordinaire, Chael Sonnen has the perfect candidate- former welterweight champ Leon Edwards.

“For me, Garry did a really good job. He had three wins tonight- three three firsts that have never happened. And policy says if you lose a fight your next fight is against somebody who also lost their last fight…  Leon will return to home soil. For a main event, there is nothing more important than your card placement… I don’t look at Garry as a guy that lost, his stock is just fine with me. I don’t look at Leon as the guy who’s lost his stock is just fine with me,” Sonnen said in a video uploaded shortly after UFC 310. And indeed that seems to be a good idea.

Why Leon Edwards vs. Ian Garry makes perfect sense

After all, Edwards is fresh off losing his title to Belal Muhammad earlier this year and set to headline UFC London in his native England this coming March. His underwhelming loss to ‘Bully B’ has dented his stock among fans. And a win over a young and hungry lion who is fresh off giving the boogeyman of the division a tough time would get him back in title contention almost immediately.

An Edwards-Garry fight would also probably do good business given Garry’s nascent but undeniable star power. Not to mention their exciting matchup. Both men are world-class strikers and a fight between them would likely be a veritable striking extravaganza, which of course, is what fans like.

In addition, as Sonnen pointed out, a win for Garry could mean he is next in line for a title shot. “And Leon is sitting there in February, in a main event with an opponent that literally says on the official press release ‘to be determined’. Well, I can determine it for you. I would like for that to be Ian Gary and I think that Ian Gary would do that, and I think that that would set us up for a number one contender’s match,” ‘Uncle Chael’ added. What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s suggestion?