Ian Machado Garry is ready to one-up the rest of the welterweight division.
“The Future” takes on former champion Belal Muhammad in the co-main event of UFC Qatar this Saturday and he expects to put on the kind of performance that cements him as the No. 1 contender to challenge Islam Makhachev. That’s a bold claim after fellow contenders Michael Morales and Carlos Prates picked up statement knockouts at UFC 322—which also saw Makhachev dominate Jack Della Maddalena to claim the 170-pound title—but
Garry is as confident as ever that he’ll have the last laugh.
“I don’t think it’s the advantage of me being last, I think it’s me being the best and the most interesting,” Garry said at media day of the importance of being the last scheduled UFC welterweight fight of 2025. “I think the guys did a great job last week and they did what they needed to do. However, I believe I am the deciding factor in what happens for the rest of the division.
“Islam winning the belt means that he’s the champion of the world. We need a No. 1 contender. When you beat No. 1 and you knock out No. 1 in the fashion that I believe I’m going to do it in, there’s nothing else. I’m next.”
One major wrench thrown into the welterweight contender conversation is the resurgence of former champion Kamaru Usman. “The Nigerian Nightmare” picked up his first win since 2021 this past June with an impressive decision win over top 10-ranked Joaquin Buckley, and Makhachev has expressed interest in fighting his fellow future Hall of Famer. Makhachev and Usman also share management, which makes a potential matchup even easier to facilitate.
Garry had harsh words for Usman’s title fight campaign.
“Do I think the champion of the world, one of the pound-for-pound best in the world should fight a has-been?” Garry said. “Someone who used to be great, but isn’t great anymore? No. Where is he now in the rankings, around 8 or 9? The last fight he had was against a guy who had, like, seven losses in the UFC. No. Islam Makhachev is a phenomenal fighter, and he needs to fight one of the young up-and-coming contenders, not a has-been who has no knees. So that’s it, end of.
“If I was Islam, I would want to fight Kamaru Usman, too, because it’s an easy paycheck, it’s an easy win, it’s an easy way for me to get my first title defense at welterweight. But when you’ve got the likes of me; firstly, if you look at the four main contenders right now, Shavkat [Rakhmonov], me, Prates, Morales, what do we all have in common? Long, tall, rangy, powerful, and full of youth. Way more dangerous than a guy who used to be the greatest. … Not a million years. That to me is a cop-out. You need to fight one of the up-and-comers, one of the guys that are hungry, that have that passion, that have not felt what it feels like to be a champion, that are driven to achieve their dreams.”
Garry is coming off of a win over Prates, which served as a bounce-back performance from the first loss of his career, which came against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 this past December. That bout was meant to crown a No. 1 contender to fight then-champion Belal Muhammad, but Rakhmonov couldn’t capitalize on the win due to injury and Della Maddalena instead replaced him and went on to defeat Muhammad at UFC 315.
Despite Rakhmonov being on the shelf for a prolonged period of time, Garry still thinks the undefeated Kazakh fighter should still be ranked No. 1.
“Yes, because he fought for a No. 1 contender fight, of which he won,” Garry said. “So yes, I do think he has that, however, unfortunately, the best ability in this sport is availability and if he can’t be here due to injury then things move on. The sport moves on, it doesn’t wait for anybody.
“That night when we fought, he fought to guarantee himself a No. 1 contender fight and he won it, three rounds to two. So in my mind, yes, he’s done enough for that, but I think when you’ve got me, you’ve got Morales, you’ve got Prates, you’ve got Gabriel Bonfim, you’ve got all these guys coming up, I think it’s going to be hard for him to just walk back in here and get a title shot.”
Garry believes he controls his fate and that if he can finish Muhammad at UFC Qatar, then the title shot is his to lose. And he wants Makhachev to do the right thing and fight a current contender as opposed to pursuing the Usman fight.
“I said this to you guys six months ago: If Islam Makhachev wants to come up to the welterweight division, everybody takes a step back and gives the pound-for-pound king the respect he deserves,” Garry said. “That respect has to then be returned. When you come to the division and you achieve the success that you wanted to achieve and you succeed in getting to your dreams, then you need to also be the man to back it up and fight the best welterweights on the planet.
“He’s calling out Kamaru Usman. That’s a has-been. Someone who used to be, not is right now. When you’ve got the likes of me, Morales, Prates, all of us contending to be the next best thing in this division, there’s no question when I knock out Belal this weekend, I’m the No. 1 contender and the right thing to do is Islam to defend the belt against me.”
