Chael Sonnen theorizes why Ian Machado Garry left Kill Cliff FC: 'In this room, you're No. 5'

Chael Sonnen suggests Shavkat Rakhmonov could be the reason Ian Machado Garry left Kill Cliff FC.

Machado Garry (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) used to train at Kill Cliff FC alongside undefeated Rakhmonov (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and a slew of other top welterweight contenders under the guidance of Henri Hooft.

Machado Garry ended up leaving, and has since trained at Chute Boxe Diego Lima, and most recently Bangtao Muay Thai and MMA in Phuket. Sonnen speculates why the Irish rising star opted to leave the talent-stacked mats in Florida.

“At 24 years old, completely undefeated, you’re the one controlling the headlines,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel. “But in this room, you’re No. 5 – just within the weight class. There’s five guys in this practice room, in your weight class, that can beat you and do it on a daily basis.

“‘But ‘The promoters want to see you for some reason. Your placement on the card is higher than our placement on the card. The amount of headlines that you garner, your social media and your followers, and the people that believe you are the man – when the four of us know you’re not.’ And just by example, is that why Ian left?”

Machado Garry is scheduled to face his former Kill Cliff FC teammate Rakhmonov in Saturday’s UFC 310 (pay-per-view, ESPN2, ESPN+) welterweight co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.