Garry happy with UFC 310 performance: 'I do not feel like I lost'

LAS VEGAS - Ian Machado Garry is taking home a moral victory after UFC 310.

The welterweight contender suffered his first career loss in Saturday's co-main event, dropping a unanimous decision to Shavkat Rakhmonov in a title-eliminator bout.

But Garry - who took Rakhmonov to the judges for the first time - said he feels like he won.

"I do not feel like I lost today," Garry told reporters, including theScore, at the UFC 310 postfight press conference. "My hand might not have gotten raised, but I came out and I fought a giant. I came out and I fought the boogeyman. And I showed that he's f-----g human."

Garry accepted the fight on three weeks' notice after 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad withdrew from a title defense against Rakhmonov due to an infection.

Garry was competitive for all 25 minutes and even scared the undefeated Kazakh fighter with a deep rear-naked choke attempt in the fifth round.

Garry said he believes he "nearly f-----g finished" Rakhmonov and "had more success than he did."

"I went out there and I stopped almost everything," Garry said. "There was no point where he looked like he was gonna finish the fight. I put him in two submissions. I took his back, I had fun. I showed that I can hang with the single best in the division and I proved tonight, on short notice, that I can absolutely be a champion. And I can do it for five rounds, and there's no holes in my game.

"There was nothing that man brought for me tonight. He won by opinion, and that's OK. That is OK. I can live with that. I'm very happy with my performance tonight."

Rakhmonov and Garry were ranked No. 3 and No. 7 in the division coming in, respectively.

Garry said he expects to eventually complete a trilogy with Rakhmonov.

"I believe that he is better than everybody else, and I believe that I am better than everybody else," Garry said. "We are going to see each other multiple times in our career. I do not believe we are gonna see each other one more time, I think it might be twice. I think he's that good, and I know I'm that good."

He added: "I will be back and I will beat that man, I promise you that. And I am so excited for that day."