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Shavkat Rakhmonov doesn’t believe that he should’ve taken a clash with Ian Machado Garry back in late 2024.

Rakhmonov and Garry collided in the UFC 310 co-main event. The competitive welterweight clash went all five rounds, and Rakhmonov was awarded the unanimous decision. Unfortunately for the undefeated Kazakh star, he was forced to miss all of 2025, and he won’t be returning this year due to injury setbacks.

Garry has since taken credit for damaging Rakhmonov’s knee, but that may have not been the case. Speaking to Alfredo Auditore for ALF Global, Rakhmonov revealed that a prior injury was truly what bothered him during the fight with Garry.

“I already had an injury going into the Ian Garry fight,” Rakhmonov said. “I stepped in, I hadn’t fought for a year. I wanted to fight. Even before that, I had health problems too, and it turned out that there were only two weeks left before the Ian Garry fight. That old injury was still bothering me a lot. My leg was swollen.”

Rakhmonov then said he doesn’t feel he should’ve taken the fight with Garry having been as hurt as he was. Ultimately, Rakhmonov pushed through it, but it may have come at a cost.

“Well, that’s my problem,” Rakhmonov admitted. “I couldn’t fight. If I had fought, I could’ve become champion, but that’s how it turned out. I was injured. What can I do? We are only human, and we are bound to make plenty of mistakes. If you really look at it, I also made a wide variety of mistakes throughout my sports career. I actually shouldn’t have even fought Ian Machado Garry at all.”

Many are wondering if Rakhmonov can ever reach his full potential amid his injury history. Comparisons to UFC Hall of Famer Dominick Cruz have been made. Despite a litany of injuries, Cruz was able to overcome long layoffs to become a two-time UFC bantamweight titleholder.

What do you make of Shavkat Rakhmonov’s belief that taking the Ian Machado Garry fight was a mistake? Let your voice be heard in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM