Garry Ranked No. 2 In His Heart And Soul

01/01/2025 07:50 AM

After nearly beating No. 1 contender Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Garry's official No. 7 ranking didn't change. Only the ranking in his heart.

Ian "Machado" Garry is the lastest fighter to get hosed by the UFC's current ranking system.

If 2024 brought the end of illegal downward elbows, maybe 2025 will mark the last year we have the stupid current UFC ranking system that just swaps losing fighters with the lower ranked opponent that beat them, sliding everyone else down a slot.

If you're above a fighter in the rankings and beat them? Don't expect to move. If you put on the performance of your career against a much higher ranked opponent but still lose by an inch? Don't expect to move.

That's what happened to Garry after nearly submitting Shavkat Rakhmonov in an impressive five round battle for the next welterweight title shot. He came into UFC 310 ranked No. 7 at 170 pounds, and after that expectation-exceeding performance he ... remains No. 7. Womp womp.

"The way I look at this is that the fight against Shavkat was to be the No. 1 contender in the world, and go out and fight for the belt next," Garry said in an interview with Sports Illustrated. "If I'm not the number one contender — of which Shavkat got his hand raised and has now cemented himself — I'm definitely number f—king two."

"That's the way I look at it because there's no way after that performance you can't sit there and say that I'm one of the best in the division. So whatever the rankings want to officially say, it's OK."

"I know in my heart and my soul, and I see the fans are giving me a lot of love and a lot of respect for that fight," he concluded. "I'm absolutely, in my mind, the No. 2 contender in the world."

Garry did cement himself as a legit contender with that performance. Rakhmonov's resume coming into the fight featured 18 wins — all finishes — and no losses. So for Garry to even make it to final bell was more than anyone else has ever done against the Kazakh fighter. And Ian had his moments. There was a submission in round five from him that was the closest either fighter came to finishing the fight. Judges would see the bout 48-47 for Shavkat on all three scorecards.

Not bad for a guy who came into 2024 off a last-minute withdrawal from the final pay-per-view of 2023. Garry was getting absolutely destroyed online and in the media by fighters. Some claimed he ditched out of the event with a fake illness rather than deal with all the extreme trolling and hatred coming his way.

Twelve months later and it really would take a hater to dismiss him as not worthy of top contender status in one of the toughest divisions in the UFC. As he said, the ranking is just a number. Garry comes into 2025 legit.