After pursuing the matchup for nearly one year with no success, Ian Machado Garry was as stunned as anyone to see Colby Covington take his place against Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 63 . Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) was originally hoping to fight Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in the Dec. 14 main event in Tampa, Fla., but was instead paired with Buckley. But then welterweight champion Belal Muhammad fell out of Saturday’s UFC 310 in Las Vegas, resulting in Machado Garry being shifted into a co-main event showdown with fellow unbeaten contender Shavkat Rakhmonov on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The shuffle then saw Covington emerge for the first time since his third failed title shot against then-champ Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December 2023, taking the short-notice headliner with Buckley. “I was seething,” Machado Garry said Monday on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “How do you think I feel
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