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IAN MACHADO GARRY suffered his first professional defeat – and a wardrobe malfunction – in his showdown with former training partner Shavkat Rakhmonov.
The Irishman sought to earn a crack at the welterweight title in the co-main event of UFC 310 in Las Vegas early on Sunday morning.
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But his dreams of fighting for UFC gold have been put on hold thanks to a unanimous decision defeat to the Kazakh killer.
Rahmonov adopted a grappling-heavy approach to the five-rounder to stifle slick striker Garry.
But he was almost bounced from the ranks of the unbeaten in the final round as Garry tied him up in several submission attempts.
Garry, 27, was seemingly seconds away from winning the contest with a tight rear-naked choke. But Rakhmonov managed to break free and make it to the final horn.
All three judges scored the contest the same, turning in 48-47 scorecards.
Garry’s near finish of Rakhmonov proved to be one of the biggest talking points of the bout, which included a mid-fight wardrobe malfunction.
Between the third and fourth rounds, it emerged that Garry ripped his shorts in the early embers of the contest.
And instead of continuing to fight in the tattered shorts, he stripped down to his undewear and changed into his back-up shorts.
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The broadcast team were left stunned by the viral moment, which was a first in UFC history.
MMA fans were also blown away, with one saying: “Well that’s a new one.”
Another said: “First short change in the octagon?”
And another said: “Seen it all now.”
One remarked: “I always enjoy seeing something I’ve never seen in the Octagon before.”
Another chimed in: “Mid-fight shenanigans.”
Defeat to Rakhmonov was Garry’s first since his amateur loss to Andreeas Binder all the way back in March 2018.
But he’s adamant he will one day hold UFC gold, saying: “I expected Shavkat to bring everything he had.
“He brought the venom, he brought the pressure, he brought the grappling.
“I felt like I shut almost everything he did down, and I feel like I had more success than he did.
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“I stopped all of his success. Everything he tried to do, I stopped. I shut it down.
“I beat him in the clinch, I stopped his knees, I stopped him on the feet and then I was the one putting on chokes and submissions.
“We’ve never seen a fight where Shavkat looked like that.
“Today, I’m very happy with my performance.
“My hand may have not have got raised, but I know I’m a champion at heart and I will get that belt one day.”
Elsewhere on the card, Alexandre Pantoja retained his flyweight title with a second-round submission of UFC newcomer Kai Asakura in the main event.
Former heavyweight title chllenger Ciryl Gane edged his rematch with Alexander Volkov via split decision.
And Bryce Mitchell and Doo-ho Choi scored third-round knockouts of Kron Gracie and Nate Landwehr respectively.
