Ian Machado Garry is stepping into UFC Qatar with one mission to outshine the rest of the welterweight division and secure his shot at the title.
“The Future” returns this Saturday in the co-main event against former champion Belal Muhammad, and he’s confident this performance will solidify him as the undeniable No. 1 contender to challenge Islam Makhachev.
It’s a bold claim, especially after Michael Morales and Carlos Prates delivered explosive knockouts at UFC 322 an event that also saw Makhachev dominate Jack Della Maddalena to capture the 170-pound title. However, Ian Machado Garry isn’t second-guessing himself.
“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 during media day. “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.”
The welterweight picture grew even more complicated after Kamaru Usman returned in June with a strong decision win over Joaquin Buckley. Makhachev has already expressed interest in facing the former champ, and with both fighters sharing the same management team, the matchup is easy to make.
“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 enters UFC Qatar off a hard-fought win over Prates, bouncing back strong after suffering the first loss of his career to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310. That fight was originally planned to determine the No. 1 contender for Belal Muhammad’s title shot, but with Rakhmonov sidelined by injury, Della Maddalena stepped in and eventually beat Muhammad at UFC 315. Despite the inactivity, Garry still believes Rakhmonov deserves the ranking he earned.
“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.”
The Irish contender believes everything rests in his hands. If he finishes Muhammad in Qatar, the title shot becomes inevitable no matter who Islam Makhachev calls out.
“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.”
The conversation intensified when Ian Machado Garry addressed the growing buzz around a potential Makhachev vs. Usman title fight during his UFC on TNT appearance.
“Khabib and his team are very smart and they are very intelligent at choosing fights and making interesting matchups. Kamaru Usman is f*ing irrelevant in the welterweight division right now. Excuse my language but it’s the fact. He’s a has-been and yes, at one point in time he was arguably the greatest welterweight of all time. He’s not close and I think Khabib and the team in Russia and that whole fight team, they know how to spin the wording to build a fight.”
“But there’s no interest. No fan wants to see that fight [Islam vs Kamaru]. They want to see him versus me, they want to see him versus Shavkat [Rakhmonov]. They want to see Islam versus [Carlos] Prates and [Michael] Morales. They want to see the new generation of this welterweight division. When you’ve got someone who is pushing 40 years of age and ranked nearly 10 in the world, he’s irrelevant.”
Once again, Garry didn’t hesitate to call out what he believes is going on behind the scenes.
“So I think that’s just Islam trying to get that 17th consecutive win against an easy opponent. Someone who was at one point in time somebody but now is just trying to maintain relevance. So I think it’s just, I don’t want to say anything disrespectful to Islam and his team, but I think it’s a cop out.”
