Usman predicted the fight between Rakhmonov and the undefeated UFC prospect.

The former UFC welterweight champion of Nigerian descent (20-4) shared his expectations regarding the fight between the undefeated fighters of the division - the Kazakh (18-0) and the Irishman Ian Garry (15-0), as reported by Vesti.kz.

Rakhmonov and Garry are set to clash in the co-main event of UFC 310, scheduled for December 7 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

"I like this fight, but we tend to get excited about fights with Ian Garry, and they turn out to be different than we think. This is not an insult. Garry just loves to fight. He loves everything to look beautiful. He enjoys throwing combinations and moving, moving, moving.

He wants everything to look good when you have a guy like Shavkat, who loves to seek and destroy. He wants to engage in a brawl. So, of course, I like this fight. I think it’s a good matchup. Shavkat is going to push forward. He will try to seek and destroy, as he always does, while Garry will be moving to create space and try to find good strikes. So on paper, this is a good fight. I don’t know how it will look on fight night.

This is an intriguing matchup because there is a bit of backstory. I think as we get closer to the fight, the rivalry will intensify, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not the most spectacular fight we’ve ever seen, as we expect,” Usman said in the podcast Pound 4 Pound.

Originally, Rakhmonov was supposed to fight the current UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3), but the Palestinian-American withdrew from the bout due to health issues. Usman and American Colby Covington (17-4) were considered as replacements, but they declined to face the Kazakh. Only Garry accepted the fight with Rakhmonov.