Firas Zahabi: Rakhmonov’s 'Relentless Pressure' Will Be Too Much for Garry

Renowned coach Firas Zahabi believes Shavkat Rakhmonov won’t lose his perfect record against fellow undefeated contender Ian Garry.

Rakhmonov and Garry will trade leather at UFC 310 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The bout will see one of the undefeated welterweights lose their perfect record. And Zahabi doesn’t think it’ll be Rakhmonov, at least for now.

Zahabi has been impressed with Rakhmonov for a while now, acknowledging the Kazakh as the enigma that he is. Zahabi recently praised Rakhmonov’s toughness yet again, which he believes will be too much for Garry. While Zahabi has seen lapses in Rakhmonov’s defense, he believes “Nomad” will make up for it with sheer grit.

“I think Shavkat’s gonna beat [Ian Garry]. After watching his fights it’s kind of obvious,” the Tristar Gym coach said on YouTube. “He has a relentless pressure, the man is an animal. He doesn’t have the best defense, but when he gets hit, he moves forward. Yes, I’ve seen him even get dropped. He gets up like a zombie and walks forward. He has an incredible robustness and resilience. Now, his defense is good; it’s just not great. He gets hit, he gets tagged, he gets pushed around, he gets even taken down. He bounces back up and marches forward. His relentless pressure, I think it’s gonna be way too much for [Garry].”

However, Zahabi also believes that the flaws in Rakhmonov’s defense will cost him his undefeated record someday.

“He takes it, man. He’s so tough. He does get hit… he doesn’t have the best defense,” Zahabi said. “One day it’s gonna catch up to him. One day we’re gonna maybe watch Shavkat get stopped or really badly hurt or lose a fight. I just don’t think it’s this one. I just don’t think it’s Ian Garry.”

Rakhmonov has finished all eighteen of his career wins so far, which includes six UFC outings. Meanwhile, Garry has finished three of his eight UFC wins and has eight total stoppages in 15 victories.

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