Ian Machado Garry thinks he’s done enough to be the No. 1 contender in the UFC welterweight division.
In the co-main event of UFC Qatar on Saturday, Garry won a unanimous decision over former champion Belal
Muhammad to record his second straight win and push his UFC record to 10-1. Though the bout lacked a signature moment for Garry, the victory unquestionably keeps him in the mix alongside fellow contenders Shavkat Rakhmonov, Michael Morales, Carlos Prates (who Garry defeated this past April), and Kamaru Usman.
Former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev claimed the welterweight title at UFC 322 and Garry thinks he’s the man to challenge Makhachev first, especially given their ties to longtime rivals Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor Mcgregor.
“Firstly, I want to say that I have nothing but respect for Islam Makhachev. Nothing,” Garry said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “The guy is the pound-for-pound No. 1 in the world and the champion of my division. However, when you come into my division and you are the only thing that stops me, that is in the way of me achieving my dreams, I’m going to make sure that I punch a hole in your head. He has to fight me next. There is nobody that has fought a deeper division, that has fought the guys from top to bottom. You name them: [Daniel Rodriguez]. [Neil] Magny. Geoff Neal. [Michael Page]. Shavkat. Prates. And now Belal Muhammad? And I haven’t even got a title shot yet? And they’re going to throw some flashes in the pan out there? Not a chance. Not on my watch. Over my dead body.
“Islam Makhachev is the protégé of Khabib. I am the protégé of Conor, right? This is the new wave of Dagestan. A more technical on the feet, a more technical grappler than Khabib. I am a longer, faster, more versatile version of Conor, right? It’s the perfect fight to make. He has to take me down. I have to keep it on the feet. He can choose it wherever he wants, the ball’s in his court, whenever he’s ready, whenever he wants. If he wants to do it in Dagestan, Russia, I will see him there. I’m not afraid of any man walking this Earth, but he has to do the right thing now. He has to do the right thing. He has a duty as champion of the welterweight division to fight the best in the world. Tonight, I proved I’m the best in the world.”
Garry has indeed tested himself against a number of top contenders, but nothing is guaranteed for “The Future.” Former champion Usman appears to be the name Makhachev is most interested in, and Rakhmonov is Garry’s lone defeat in the UFC.
However, Garry is confident his health and availability make him more likely to get the Makhachev fight than those two standouts.
“Kamaru Usman has just had double knee surgery,” Garry said. “And Shavkat Rakhmonov has had two knee surgeries in a row, so both of them are very struggling right now, aren’t they? Kamaru Usman is irrelevant. He shouldn’t be mentioned in this title contention. It’s ridiculous. It’s Khabib’s camp being smart and trying to get a has-been who has name value for Islam to get his 17th consecutive win. That’s a cop-out as a champion. That fight cannot happen because that is not the right thing to do. That is not the duty of the world champion. He’s meant to fight the best in the world, of which that is me.”
“Shavkat Rakhmonov, I love him, I have nothing but respect for him, but I busted his knee up pretty bad in that fight just like I did to Belal tonight, right?” Garry added. “He has had two knee surgeries, the first one failed, he’s still checking the second one out. We won’t see him for very long.”
One name that has soared up the welterweight rankings is the undefeated Morales. The Ecuadorian star picked up the biggest win of his career at UFC 322, knocking out fellow contender Sean Brady inside of a round.
At 26, Morales is one of the most promising young fighters in all of MMA, but Garry believes he still has more work to do before moving to the front of the line.
“He’s flash in the pan,” Garry said of Morales. “He’s not done what I’ve done. He’s not had the road that I’ve had. He’s not fought the guys that I’ve had. I just beat Carlos Prates and I just beat Belal Muhammad, two guys that are the best in the world. Before that, I fought Shavkat. Before that I fought MVP, before that I fought Geoff Neal. The list goes on.
“There is no one who has been tested more than me, there is no one that has been through it more than me. The highs, the lows, the booing, whatever it is, I am a polarizing figure, but I am the best in the world, so you cannot count me out.”
