Two years ago, UFC welterweight bogeyman Shavkat Rakhmonov called his shot.
“I believe 2023 or 2024, God willing, I will be the champion,” Rakhmonov told The Post through an interpreter in June 2022.
The Kazakhstan native won’t quite make good on that declaration — a planned UFC 310 title shot against titleholder Belal Muhammad was scrapped by an injury to the champion — but Rakhmonov still can set up a do-over if he gets through Ian Machado Garry at the same pay-per-view event Saturday (10 p.m. Eastern, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena.
The battle of unbeaten 170-pounds is officially a non-title, co-main event set for five rounds, and it’s being considered a title eliminator that would position the winner to face Muhammad sometime next year.
Rakhmonov (18-0, 18 finishes) and Machado Garry (15-0, eight finishes) have impressed as they’ve passed all their previous octagon tests since arriving in the UFC in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
“Even though it’s not a championship fight, it’s a big fight for me,” said Rakhmonov, speaking with The Post from Las Vegas on Wednesday via video call. “I’m really motivated to get that win against undefeated fighter Ian Garry.”
While Machado Garry has been more active in a shorter span, going 8-0 with three wins via (T)KO, Rakhmonov carries with him the rare distinction of never having gone the distance in any of his 18 pro bouts, including all six with the UFC.
Never has Rakhmonov so much as fought to the third-round horn, even in his pre-UFC championship fights that had been scheduled to go five rounds.
It’s entirely possible Rakhmonov, who has not competed since a submission win over ex-title challenger Stephen Thompson last December — wakes up Sunday and still can say that — win or lose — but if he finds himself still dealing with the 27-year-old Irishman, he’s confident his training will keep him from wearing down in the unfamiliar territory of the fourth or fifth rounds.
“I feel great in the later rounds too,” says Rakhmonov of such training scenarios. “I cannot say this is too difficult. This is not an easy sport, but it’s part of it. You have to get through hard moments and still get the win.”
Rakhmonov and Machado Garry have crossed paths before, during their shared time training at Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach, Fla.
The two sparred together on a handful of occasions as recently as a few years ago before Machado Garry moved on to experience other gyms.
Fight week has dredged up sparring footage of the two shared by Machado Garry’s team — which Rakhmonov told “The Ariel Helwani Show” this week conveniently left out the part when the Kazakh tapped out his training partner via choke.
Sparring is, of course, practice, and Machado Garry has said this week that neither man was going close to full speed, but it does add a wrinkle to the fascinating matchup that the 30-year-old, for one, foresaw coming down the line.
“We didn’t really meet outside of training. We just met during sessions,” recalls Rakhmonov, who also trains in his home country. “I knew at the time that he’s also on a path to be in the top of the division as a guy I’m gonna meet one day. I can’t say he’s my friend. It’s just sport interest, to find out who’s the better fighter.”
Rakhmonov has proved himself a capable fighter in all phases of a fight, but much of his finest work since his UFC debut has come via mauling opponents on the mat with his grappling and, especially, ground-and-pound.
Machado Garry, meanwhile, follows in his fighting idol and countryman Conor McGregor as primarily a striker, but also one who proudly touts his high fight IQ and willingness to diverge from distance work to do what’s necessary to win.
Years of success by powerhouses from Russia and former Soviet republics like Kazakhstan — think Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili, among others — and Rakhmonov’s own displayed prowess feed into a popular thought that his grappling will be too much for Machado Garry.
Though Machado Garry, who stayed perfect as a professional with a decision victory over Michael “Venom” Page in June, has raved about all he’s learned from training with Charles Oliveira and Demian Maia — who of the most legendary Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners in UFC history — betting favorite Rakhmonov prefers to let his actions Saturday do the talking.
“I believe the fight will show whose grappling is better,” Rakhmonov says, “and there’s no meaning to say much now.”