"Excuse for his stinkers" - MMA X reacts to Shavkat Rakhmonov allegedly suffering MCL injury going into UFC 310 fight against Ian Machado Garry

MMA fans have been reacting to the news that Shavkat Rakhmonov allegedly suffered an MCL injury heading into the fight against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310.

In the co-main event last weekend, Rakhmonov and Garry faced-off to become the No.1 contender for Belal Muhammad's welterweight title. Both men also put their undefeated records on the line as they each hoped to pick up the biggest win of their careers so far.

In what was expected to be a back-and-forth contest in terms of striking, instead became a clinic of high-level grappling and defensive wrestling, with Garry surprising fans and Rakhmonov himself with just how good his takedown defense was. Whilst it ultimately wasn't enough for the Irishman to get his hand raised, as he did become the first fighter Rakhmonov (19-0) had ever gone the distance with.

Following the fight, however, news has surfaced that 'Nomad' actually went into the fight with a torn MCL, which may explain why he wasn't as clinical as usual. According to Daniel Cormier, he learned after the fight that Rakhmonov was injured.

MMA fans aren't quite convinced though, one fan even claiming Shavkat Rakhmonov "always" has an excuse when he doesn't perform as well as he hoped. They wrote:

"Bro always has an excuse for his stinkers"

Another fan said:

"Contender fights with a torn MCL while the champ sits the fight out cause of a swollen toe"

One fan wrote:

"Here we go again."

Another fan posted:

"Always an excuse"

One fan added:

"Looked like it. He was far less aggressive"

X user @J__Mathew said:

"Ain’t no way he was fighting with a torn MCL"

Check out more reactions here:

More fan reactions

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Belal Muhammad predicts upcoming fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov

After witnessing Shavkat Rakhmonov's unanimous decision win over Ian Machado Garry from cageside, Belal Muhammad is more confident than ever he's going to defeat 'Nomad'.

Following UFC 310 last weekend in which 'Remember the Name' entered the octagon and had a face-off with Rakhmonov, he spoke to The Schmo to offer his thoughts on the fight and his performance. According to Muhammad, he was unimpressed by 'Nomad' and expects to get an easy victory when they eventually battle inside the cage. He said:

''Before this fight even happened I thought I was going to dominate him [Shavkat Rakhmonov] so now I got extra 25 minutes to break him down even more and I came to the same conclusion. I'm going to dominate him. I'm better than both of these guys, I'm better than everybody in the division and next time you see me in the cage you guys are going to realize it.''

Check out Belal Muhammad's comments here (1:44):