"Absolutely not", "Ian getting it done" - Fans debate if Shavkat Rakhmonov will be affected by his 358-day-long layoff against Ian Machado Garry

Undefeated top-ranked UFC welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov will face fellow undefeated rising star Ian Machado Garry in the co-main event of UFC 310 on December 7. This came on the heels of Rakhmonov's original opponent, UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, pulling out of their title fight due to injury.

The title fight will have to wait as the undefeated Kazakh may have an equally difficult task ahead of him in the form of a man who's never lost as well. On top of this, Rakhmonov will have been sidelined for nearly a year by fight night. He's been away from competition for 358 days, to be exact.

MMA On Point posted about Shavkat Rakhmonov's long layoff on Instagram:

"Will the long layoff affect Shavkat Rakhmonov at #UFC310?"

Fans have been responding to the question, with @voidwalker_04040 saying:

"Absolutely not"

Meanwhile, @gumdisease1989 said:

"How tf are we supposed to know? We barely know anything about him."

Comments on the post. [Image credit: @mmaonpoint on Instagram]

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Georges St-Pierre's coach Firas Zahabi weighs in on Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry

Veteran MMA coach and combat genius Firas Zahabi recently chimed in on the battle of the undefeated fighters, Shavkat Rakhmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry. Zahabi, who is the mastermind behind the success of MMA legend and former two-division UFC champion Georges St-Pierre, posted a detailed breakdown of this upcoming match-up on YouTube.

Zahabi considered UFC welterweight Geoff Neal, a common foe between the two, as the determining factor for his assessment of the fight, saying:

"Shavkat [Rakhmonov] obviously finished [Geoff Neal], finished him with a standing choke... Geoff Neal had some very good moments, even though you could kind of tell that Shavkat was wearing on him... You can't deny that Neal got in some good shots."

He continued:

"When Ian was fighting Geoff Neal, you could see that he was never anywhere near really finishing Neal. Even though he landed some very nice knees, he tagged Neal with hard shots. He just doesn't seem to have the same finishing ability as Shavkat."

Check out Firas Zahabi's comments on the bout here (1:15):