No. 7-ranked welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry will risk his spot in the division Top 10 when he collides with No. 13-ranked Carlos Prates atop the UFC Kansas City fight card on Sat. night (April 26, 2025) at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
The winner is expected to join a very short list of 170-pound title contenders, but may still play second fiddle to No. 2-ranked Shavkat Rakhmonov, undefeated at 19-0 with 18 finishes. That’s according to reigning welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad.
Rakhmonov defeated Garry by close decision at UFC 310 last December.
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“In my eyes, it’s still Shavkat unless he’s still going to be out a lot longer,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “But (Sean) Brady just had a huge performance against Leon (Edwards), and you still got (Joaquin) Buckley there; he’s calling for (Kamaru) Usman. It’ll have to be a huge show or a huge performance.”
Rakhmonov is currently rehabbing a knee injury (which Garry takes credit for).
Muhammad will make his first 170-pound title defense when he collides with No. 5-ranked Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 pay-per-view (PPV) main event next month in Montreal. Muhammad will have to survive “Canelo Alvarez” in order to face Shavkat later this year.
