Javier Mendez disagrees with the notion that Ian Machado Garry lacked killer instinct at UFC 330.
Machado Garry (17-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost a unanimous decision to welterweight champion Islam Makhachev
(29-1 MMA, 18-1 UFC) in Saturday's main event at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Machado Garry gave Makhachev a tough test, but UFC CEO Dana White thought he was too respectful throughout the fight.White claimed the lack of killer instinct cost Machado Garry, but Makhachev's head coach, Mendez, disagrees.
"I think every fighter is different," Mendez said in an interview with Parimatch Online Casino. "I have so many fighters that, if they have that killer instinct, they usually tighten up. They try too hard, whereas if they have a relaxed time,
like what he did, it kind of throws you off guard. That's what he did at the very beginning. He came out, shook everybody's hands, shook all the coaches' hands. I've never had that happen to me.
"He was smiling like he had this in the bag, and for me, that got me right away. I went, 'Oh, he's really confident here. Very, very confident.' What Dana took one way, I took as super, super confident. I felt he was telling us goodbye, 'Thank you, guys, but I'm winning this.' That's what I felt. He came out with that attitude too. I don't think it had anything to do with what Dana said. I think that's just for him to motivate himself, and I think he did fantastic."
Despite the loss, Mendez believes Machado Garry has the potential to become UFC champion.
"Ian Garry has the potential to be a world champion, yes," Mendez said. "We'll see. He's definitely the No. 1, even though he lost. He's still the No. 1 in my eyes. I saw Carlos Prates in person. He didn't look bigger than Ian to me. He looked smaller. His arms are smaller. His body didn't look as strong. Ian Machado looked very, very big for a welterweight. He definitely looked bigger than Islam, for sure. His physique impressed me and how he used it impressed me. He does it really well.
"He's got great coaching, all the technical things he was doing on the ground, preventing Islam from dominating him the way he could have. I was very impressed with him – very, very impressed."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Coach disagrees with Dana White's 'killer instinct' criticism of Ian Machado Garry
