UFC fighter Ian Machado Garry believes his fight with Michael Page is not worth the sweat. The 26-year-old believes Page isn’t a worthy opponent as he is ranked lower than him and would rather face three-time UFC title challenger Colby Covington.
Although the fighter has already accepted the challenge, he believes the fight will be the “second biggest fight on the card” and should be the co-main event. Despite Page’s great pro record, Garry still doesn’t see the appeal in fighting ‘Venom’.
“I’m still not interested in it,” Garry said on The MMA Hour. “I have no interest in it. I’ve told you. Here’s the way I look at it: I’m undefeated. I’ve beaten everybody put in front of me in the best way I believe I can. And I go out there, and I get my hand raised anyway, shape, and form possible, That is my job. When I do that, I fight up because my goal is to be the world champion.
“I’m looking at the guys above me. There’s six or seven guys ahead of me. There’s Gilbert[Burns], there’s Shavkat [Rakhmonov], there’s Jack Della Maddelena, there’s Colby [Covington], there’s [Kamaru] Usman, Belal [Muhammad] and Leon [Edwards]. All I’ve done in my career is win. I deserve to fight one of those guys. I have to fight one of those guys because that is my projection to be one of the world champions. I’m on a projection to be one of the biggest stars the sports ever seen. I have no interest in fighting below me. I’ve already fought [No] 15 in the world, 10 in the world, 8 in the world, why on Earth would I want to fight No 13? I still have no interest in fighting Michael. I have no interest in fighting him.”
“When I say it to you, I kind of want to realign my focus and everything like that,” He continued. “ The shift of energies for me and the shift of focus is when I get that belt wrapped around my waist. I’m going to be fighting whoever the people believe is the next best guy worthy of that title shot. Whether he’s ranked No 1, whether he’s 2, whether he’s 6, whether he’s 9 in the world, and I want to put on the shows.
“So this is the first time I’m stepping into an octagon with that championship mentality of ‘I am better than you. I am going to prove it’ and that us all my job is, is to go out there and prove that there’s a reason you’re ranked below me. There’s a reason I’m ranked higher than you. And now it’s to go out there and completely outclass ‘MVP’ in any way, shape and form necessary to get my hand raised.”
Notwithstanding his feelings about the fighter, Garry is fully prepared for the battle and has been training. ‘The Future’ will be entering the cage with a [7-0] UFC record to face 37-year-old veteran Michael ‘Venom’ Page[22-2]. The battle will be his 15th professional fight as he climbs the ladder to become the next world champion.
