Michael Bisping: If Ian Machado Garry can't stop the takedown, he will get finished by Shavkat Rakhmonov

Michael Bisping says the ground is lava for Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310.

Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) meets fellow unbeaten contender Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in a five-round welterweight bout on Dec. 7 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Bisping credits Machado Garry for stepping in to face Rakhmonov in what he sees as a tough stylistic matchup for him.

“You’ve got to have a lot of respect for Ian Garry: He didn’t have to take this fight. But can he stop the takedown?” Bisping said on his YouTube channel.

Rakhmonov has a 100 percent finish rate, most recently submitting Stephen Thompson at UFC 296. Bisping warns Machado Garry of hitting the ground with Rakhmonov.

“Ian Garry is probably going to dance around the octagon and use the exact same game plan what he did against Geoff Neal,” Bisping said. “He’s got to keep Shavkat Rakhmonov off him. If he can’t stop the takedown, he will get finished, and that is no disrespect to Ian Garry.

“He might be able to dance around, use the reach, use the range, use the movement. Be fast, be elusive, be nice and crisp, be light on his toes, and be dedicated enough to not get involved in a brawl. If he does that, Shavkat is going to get a hold of him. If he gets a hold of him, he’s going to get him down, and if he gets him down, it’s going to be lights out.”

Bisping mapped out Machado Garry’s path to victory, which he thinks likely won’t be the most crowd pleasing.

“Can Ian Garry stop the takedown? Because if he can’t, someone’s 0 has got to go, and that’s probably going to be Ian Garry’s,” Bisping said. “But he does have a path to victory of using the range, sticking and moving. The crowd will boo, but who cares about the crowd? Winning is all that matters.”