One man who has trained with both and been there first hand is PFL star Paul Hughes. The Bellator title contender cornered Garry the night he won his Cage Warriors belt, but now finds himself on the mats day after day with Rakhmonov in the Florida gym.

Ian Machado Garry admits he was defeated in a sparring session with Shavkat Rakhmonov

The biggest story leading up to UFC 310’s co-main event came from old sparring, when Ian Machado Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov trained together at Kill Cliff. The two are the same weight and would share training sessions, with the Kazakh fighter claiming he got the most out of the training sessions.

In an interview on the Ariel Helwani Show, Rakhmonov said: “Although his wife asked me at the time if she could film the footage of our sparring, I agreed. But they didn’t ask me whether they could publish it or not. I wonder why they didn’t release the other part of the sparring.”

When asked what happened, the fighter replied: “Ian Garry is typing. It was a submission, a suffocation. The most important thing for me is victory. Sparring is sparring, fighting is different.

“Ian Garry is a very tough opponent, a good tactician and a good game plan. So for me it doesn’t matter whether it’s submission or interruption. For me the most important thing is to win.”

Paul Hughes supports Ian Machado Garry in defeating Shavkat Rakhmonov

One man who knows both Garry and Rakhmonov very well is Paul Hughes. The Derry native has been back in Florida to prepare for his fight with Usman Nurmagomedov in Dubai next month and is spending his time training at the same facility as the Kazakh titan.

But he still supports his friend Garry, with whom he has been close since his days in the Irish Regional League. “I’m absolutely confident Ian beats him,” Hughes told Bloody Elbow in an exclusive pre-fight chat.

“That’s probably something I shouldn’t say because I’ve been sharing the mats with Shavkat for the last few weeks here in Kill Cliff. But in the end it’s just my opinion and everyone has an opinion. I think Ian will go out there and win no matter what. I think he wins.”

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