Ian Machado Garry will face the toughest test of his MMA career when he faces Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 330. Or will he? According to Garry, he’s already fighting more elite competition than Makhachev has over the past couple of years. Could this be an easier fight for Garry than we’re all anticipating?
In a new interview with ESPN MMA, Garry shared his thoughts on welterweight champion Islam Makhachev’s recent opposition, and how his resume is better.
“If you look at my last five opponents
versus Islam’s last five opponents, in my opinion, it’s not a discussion whose [were] more difficult,” Garry said. “When you look at who I fought, Belal Muhammad, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Carlos Prates, [Michael “Venom” Page], those four are four of the trickiest fighters on the planet. All of them present real, real danger.”
“When you look at [Jack Della Maddalena], Renato Moicano, Dustin Poirier, and Volkanovski, as much as Volkanovski is a legend of the sport and Poirier is a legend of the sport, they’re not as dangerous as the guys I’ve just mentioned. Not only that, every single one of [mine] is bigger, longer. Shavkat was 18-0 with 18 finishes when I when I fought him. He had like 10 knockouts and 8 submissions. Carlos Prates had an 11 fight win streak by knockouts when I fought him.”
“I’ve been fighting the highest level of MMA fights against the toughest opponents,” Garry concluded. “When I step into this octagon against Islam Makhachev, I’m gonna prove to the world why Ian Machado is truly great.”
Garry forgets to mention that Rakhmonov did beat him … that fight has morphed from a moral victory in Ian’s mind to a full-blown one, with Garry declaring he didn’t just beat Rakhmonov but ended the Kazakh’s career. Those are the kind of comments that turn a lot of fans against “The Future,” but Garry claims none of the hate is even real.
“It’s all fake. It’s all on social media, and it’s all fake,” he insisted. “Any bit of hate that you speak about, it’s not reality. When I walk down the road in Philadelphia, in Dublin, Ireland, in Brazil, in England, anywhere I go, I’m met with nothing but joy and love and appreciation. I’ve never had anyone come up in the street and say anything negative to me. So it’s all fake.”
“It’s all a pantomime, and it’s all on a world that isn’t real. Social media isn’t real. The real world is is this moment here. It’s this moment where I’m sat with my team, my family preparing for the biggest fight of my life, and all of us are laughing and excited. There is no negativity in my camp.”
We’ll see how Garry’s mindset carries him through his upcoming cage fight with Islam Makhachev on August 15th at UFC 330.
