Belal Muhammad shares "official unbiased breakdown" for Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Garry: "Been watching a lot of tape and studying both these guys"
Belal Muhammad recently expressed his opinion about the Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Macahdo Garry fight, scheduled for UFC 310. The reigning UFC welterweight champ mentioned that he arrived at his opinion after watching "tapes" of both Rakhmonov's and Garry's fights.
Muhammad was originally scheduled to take on Rakhmonov at the main event of UFC 310. However, he was diagnosed with a bone infection which made him pull out of, what was supposed to be his first title defense and leaving Rakhmonov without a rival. Multiple UFC welterweights expressed wishes to fill Muhammad's spot, but the UFC brass elected Garry as Rakhmonov's UFC 310 rival.
While announcing his decision, Muhammad also mentioned that his injury would keep him inactive for about six weeks. However, he refused to stay out of the game even during his recovery period. One of his recent X updates revealed that he was watching a lot of tapes to analyze the features of Rakhmonov and Garry's respective styles.
'Remember The Name' also provided his opinion about the upcoming Rakhmonov vs. Garry encounter, but it wasn't related to the results of the fight. Instead, Muhammad mentioned that he could get the better of both 'Nomad' and 'The Future':
"These last six weeks I’ve been watching a lot of tape and studying both these guys and my official unbiased breakdown is that I break both of them."
Ian Macahdo Garry had a warning for Shavkat Rakhmonov despite being respectful
Ian Garry expressed his interest in locking horns with Shavkat Rakhmonov shortly after his victory over Michael Venom Page at UFC 303. He mentioned that he wanted to witness who would stand as the undefeated fighter after their matchup. But now that it has been fixed, Garry is extremely confident about getting the better of Rakhmonov.
During a recent episode of The Ariel Helwani Show, Garry labeled Rakhmonov as a "phenomenal" fighter who had his respect. Still, the Irishman mentioned that he has enough to put the Kazakhstani "in the dirt":
"Shavkat’s phenomenal. I respect him [and] I respect everything that he brings to this matchup. I know I'm well capable of going out there and putting [Rakhmonov] in the dirt... I'm well capable of going out there and finishing him, beating him up and doing it beautifully... I am one of the greatest fighters this sport has ever seen and I'm gonna prove it by doing it against a guy that many think is the boogeyman."