An in-depth analysis examines Shavkat Rakhmonov's performance against Ian Machado Garry, highlighting several key improvements and strengths. Rakhmonov showed significant progress at mid-range compared to his fight against Geoff Neal, consistently landing powerful single strikes including jabs, overhand rights, left hooks, and spinning backfists. He dominated the clinch in the first four rounds, repeatedly taking Garry's back and controlling positions Garry couldn't escape. Rakhmonov became the first UFC fighter to score takedowns on Garry in the center of the octagon, doing so twice and landing ground strikes from top position. The analysis notes Rakhmonov's overall control of distance, pace, and positioning throughout most of the fight, though he gave away significant points at long range where Garry excelled with leg kicks (scoring 19.5 points to Rakhmonov's 1.75 at distance). Despite the even scorecard by some metrics (approximately 40-40 in total points), the analyst awards the fight to Rakhmonov based on his cleaner head strikes and superior control, while noting the fifth-round mistake that briefly gave Garry position.
