Champ-champ? Nah.
No. 2-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight contender Ian Garry challenges division champion and No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter Islam Makhachev for the 170-pound strap in UFC 330’s main event this weekend (Sat., Aug. 15, 2026) inside Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Garry has an extremely tough task in front of him this weekend, but confidence is not something the Irish fighter lacks. Indeed, he fully believes he will dethrone the Dagestani champion.
And if he does, do not expect Garry to defend the Welterweight championship two or three times before jumping to Middleweight in pursuit of a second belt. Instead, he wants to defend it repeatedly and build the kind of lengthy reign enjoyed by UFC’s greatest champions.
“My reign starts by proving I’m the best against the guy whom people consider the best right now,” Garry told UFC.com. “And then it’s going to be the rightful challenger every single time, consistently over the next decade. I’m 28 years of age; I have a decade of dominance in the sport if I choose to.”
“I want to be remembered as one of the greatest of all time, and that means I need to make sure I have a title reign like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones and the other greats—that is what I consider to be the greatest: those long, dominant title reigns,” Garry added.
“Double champions—they are less important now. They are less special now because people are waiting for the right opportunity,” Garry concluded. “What makes me different, or what separates me from these champions, is that I will want to beat one through 15 in the rankings. I want to have a win over every single Welterweight in the Top 15 to prove I’m the best on the planet. If I beat every single one of them, it would be undeniable.”
Winning belts in two different weight classes remains a significant accomplishment, especially because only 11 UFC fighters have done it. However, the “champ-champ” chase has started to run its course for many.
Older UFC fans (like myself) appreciate the long title reigns that once defined the sport and gave us so many iconic champions.
So, if that is really the goal, bravo, Garry—“The Future” really is bright.
Of course, he first has to get through Makhachev, something no opponent has managed to do since 2015.
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