Islam Makhachev will defend his welterweight title against longtime 170-pond contender Ian Garry atop the upcoming UFC 330 event on Aug. 15 in Philadelphia. But if an unexpected scale fail happens to jeopardize the bout, welterweight contender Michael Morales will be ready to step in.
“Either I’m going to be a replacement in this fight between Islam and Ian Garry, or I’ll fight one more time against whomever,” Morales told Carlos Contreras Legaspi. “They’re saying (Carlos) Prates, others are saying another
fighter in the same division, but I said whatever they want. But I’m still going to make weight for August 15th. I’m still going to show up to make weight and, well, with my luck, if God allows it and they let me fight that day, we’ll be there fighting for the title. But whatever happens, happens.”
Garry has never missed weight in his UFC career and Makhachev moved up from lightweight to ease the suffering of his championship weight cuts, so the likelihood of either fighter bowing out is remote. Then again, weird things tend to happen before major UFC title fights, so it’s good to have a Plan B.
