Ian Garry disputes decision loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310: ‘He won by opinion’

Irish striker, Ian Garry has disputed his unanimous decision loss to former training partner, Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 over the weekend, claiming the Uzbekistani-born fighter only won the bout “by decision” — claiming he managed to hold his own over the incoming title challenger.

Garry, who retains the number seven rank at the welterweight limit, suffered his first-ever professional mixed martial arts over the course of the weekend, in the form of a unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) in a competitive back-and-forth pairing.

Facing off with incumbent welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad following his win over Portmarnock native, Garry — surging challenger, Rakhmonov has been tipped to fight the Illinois native in the new year, in pursuit of his first championship reign under the banner of the UFC.

Ian Garry claims he made Shavkat Rakhmonov look “human” at UFC 310

And somewhat offering his dispute to the judge’s scorecards at the T-Mobile Arena, Ian Garry claimed Rakhmonov only won the pairing via “opinion” — admitting he was proud of his performance.

“In victory and in defeat, I’m still the same person,” Ian Garry, said during the post-fight press conference. “I am humble in victory and defeat, I always have been. And I do not feel like I lost today. My hand might not have got raised, but I came out and I fought a giant, I came out and I fought the bogeyman. And I showed that he’s f*cking human.

“I went out there on three weeks’ notice and I saved this event, I saved this card against the scariest man in the division, and I went out there and I stopped almost everything. There was at no point that he looked like he would finish the fight; I put him in two submissions, I took his back, I had fun. I showed that I can hang with the single best in the division, and I proved tonight, on short notice, that I can absolutely be a champion, and I can do it for five rounds and there is no holes in my game, there was nothing that man brought from me tonight. He won by opinion and that’s OK. I can live with that and I’m very happy with my performance tonight.”