Analysis: Shavkat Rakhmonov showed middle-distance and clinch dominance over Ian Garry

A detailed breakdown of Shavkat Rakhmonov's performance against Ian Garry highlights several key areas where the Kazakh fighter excelled. Rakhmonov demonstrated significant improvement in his middle-distance striking compared to his bout with Geoff Neal, consistently landing powerful single shots 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 him in deep underhooks. Rakhmonov became the only fighter in the UFC to score takedowns on Garry in the center of the cage, achieving this twice and securing mount position. The analysis notes that Rakhmonov won the middle and close-range exchanges but surrendered significant points on the outside due to limited low kick activity, with Garry landing 19.5 points at long range compared to Rakhmonov's 1.75. Despite the overall point count being roughly even at 40-40, the analyst gave Rakhmonov the victory based on his control of the more critical fighting distances and heavier damage to the head.