Garry and Covington Faced Different December Assignments
Ian Machado Garry and Colby Covington competed against different opponents in December 2024 after discussion of a possible meeting between them. Garry faced Shavkat Rakhmonov in Las Vegas, while Covington fought Joaquin Buckley in Tampa one week later.
Rakhmonov won the five-round contest
Garry met Rakhmonov in the UFC 310 co-main event at T-Mobile Arena on December 7. Their welterweight contest lasted all five rounds and ended with every judge returning 48–47 for Rakhmonov.
The unanimous decision represented Garry’s first professional defeat. It also gave the event a completed matchup between two previously unbeaten contenders rather than the Covington pairing that had been discussed earlier.
Buckley stopped Covington in Tampa
Covington instead headlined the December 14 UFC Fight Night at Amalie Arena. Buckley won by technical knockout following a doctor’s stoppage at 4:42 of the third round.
The two December outcomes therefore belonged to separate events and opponents. Neither supplied a result for a Garry–Covington contest, which did not take place.
Garry later reached a championship fight
On August 15, 2026, Garry challenged Islam Makhachev for the UFC welterweight championship in Philadelphia. Makhachev used wrestling and positional control to secure a unanimous decision.
Two judges scored the title fight 49–46, with the third returning 48–47. That later championship appearance extended Garry’s competitive story beyond the December Rakhmonov defeat, while the earlier Covington discussion remained a proposed matchup rather than a completed fight.
Sources
- UFC: December Rakhmonov result and Las Vegas event
- UFC: Buckley stoppage, time and Tampa venue
- UFC: August 2026 championship contest and scorecards
- BBC Sport: Rakhmonov hands Garry his first defeat
Article Tags
UFC, MMA
