Ian Garry would tell the press after his decision defeat to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 that he didn’t feel like he lost. Why? Well because he “made Shavkat look human.” After all, ‘The Future’ is the only opponent ever to have gone to the final bell against Rakhmonov, who had a 100% finish rate coming into the bout.

In fact, the Irishman did more than that- he nearly submitted ‘Nomad’! But Daniel Cormier‘s recent revelations perhaps indicate just why the Kazakh looked so ineffective against Garry compared to his previous fights. “Shavkat Rakhmonov did not look like himself. Even though I learned after that, he had an injury. I think he might have torn his MCL, going into the fight with a torn ligament in your knee, you’re not gonna look like the killer that you look like in fights prior,” Cormier told fans in a video after the event.

This does seem to have some merit given how Rakhmonov fought at UFC 310. After all, the Kazakh seemed mostly interested in clinching with Garry and hesitant to engage on the feet at all. Many had taken this to mean that ‘Nomad’ was uncertain to strike with Garry because of the Irishman’s brilliance there. In addition, Rakhmonov getting almost choked out by Garry, who doesn’t have much of a ground game, was also head-scratching for many.

But if Rakhmonov was indeed injured coming into the fight, then all of this is much more understandable. Of course, ‘Nomad’ is the definition of the word warrior, and would have seen talking about the injury as making excuses, which he would be loathe to do. But now he is set to fight for the title up next against a much tougher matchup than Garry.

Bully B’s world-class wrestling concerns Rakhmonov fans after UFC 310 performance

Shavkat Rakhmomov will fight for the welterweight gold in his next fight. Of course, he would have fought for the title already at UFC 310 if champ Belal Muhammad had not suffered a bone infection. But no matter, in the end, Rakhmonov got the job done (even if not very impressively) and will now fight Muhammad sometime next year. But the question is- when exactly?

Well, not before April. Muhammad told MMA reporter Aaron Brinsteter that he didn’t want to fight during Ramadan. Since the Muslim holy month is between late February and March next year, when Muhammad (and perhaps even Rakhmonov) would be fasting, the earliest the fight could take place could be in April.

Of course, Rakhmonov’s performance against Garry has many concerned how he would deal with Muhammad. After all, if Garry gave ‘Nomad’ such a hard time on the ground, imagine what ‘Bully B’ with his world-class wrestling could do. But then again, if the cause for Rakhmonov’s underwhelming performance was down to an injury, there is still a good chance he will be up to the task the next time he enters the Octagon.

But if Cormier is wrong, and the Kazakh was not injured, then that should ring the alarm bell for ‘Nomad’ and his team. What do you think about Cormier’s revelations about Shavkat Rakhmonov’s possible injury going into UFC 310?