Last weekend, Ian "The Future" Machado Garry defeated Neil Magny fairly easily. When Bruce Buffer announced Ian as the winner he called out "and still undefeated" which has been a relatively new trend for the UFC. It is a bit odd in my opinion. Since it's a trend, the UFC should be booking undefeated fighters against each other. Honestly, they should be doing that regardless because that's how great fighters are made. Shavkat Rakhmonov is 17-0. Ian Garry is 13-0. Shavkat is the 6th ranked fighter and is without an opponent. Garry is the 11th-ranked fighter and called out the 7th-ranked Welterweight Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. After seeing how classless Ian Garry was treating veteran Neil Magny with zero respect in the octagon I have no interest in watching him disrespect Stephen Thompson. Garry was flipping Magny off like it was the WWE. A Hall of Famer like Thompson doesn't deserve that at all. I'm not saying Wonderboy can't beat Garry because I'm sure he could, but he is getting up there in age and I'd hate to see him get embarrassed. I know for a fact Shavkat isn't gonna get embarrassed or disrespected.
With Shavkat ranked only one spot above Thompson, you would imagine Shavkat would be Garry's next fight barring a win. Shavkat needs an opponent, Garry wants to fight, and both men are unbeaten. This is the most obvious booking I've ever seen. I understand why it won't happen, but honestly, that's one more sign that Dana White needs the boot. Dana is scared of one of these guys (mostly Ian Garry) losing their zero before it could be a title fight and his next "Conor vs. Khabib," but the undefeated version. I feel like this is a fight "The Bad Guy" Chael Sonnen would book based on how easy it would be to promote. You could have this be the most watched fight night of the year, a co-main for a paid event, or even just a featured fight on a stacked card. One of these guys, if not both, will emerge as stars.
Hopefully, someone with some pull puts a little thought into booking both Garry and Shavkat's next fight. A little thought can go a long way. If they have a brawl for the ages that goes the distance, two mega-stars will emerge. If Garry gets knocked out or submitted he might lose a little shine temporarily, but he can get better and work his way back to the Shavkat by the time Shavkat gets the belt and now there's even more story to booking. If Ian Garry is really "the future" he'd fight Shavkat next. I know Shavkat is down to scrap with whoever gets put across from him, this is the fight to book. The battle of the unbeatens!
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