Tides Are Turning
Ian Machado Garry’s stock rose significantly with UFC fans over the past week. The Irishman’s welterweight’s willingness to step up to the plate and effectively save UFC 310 after Belal Muhammad fell out of the original main event (where he was due to defend his title against Shavkat Rakhmonov) looks to have turned the tide in his bid to become accepted by a fanbase that seemed sceptical of his claims to be a future welterweight champion.
Rakhmonov came into Saturday”s event at the T-Mobile Arena as a heavy favorite due to his unbeaten record and 100% finish rate, and Garry did what nobody else has been able to do since the Khazak first appeared inside the Octagon in October of 2020: he made “Nomad” look human.
Rakhmonov may have emerged victorious from their encounter on Saturday night, but he did so by the skin of teeth. A tight, tactical affair began slowly with the Khazak fighter trying (and failing) to take the fight to the canvas. “The Future” gradually grew into the fight and in an edge-of-the-seat crescendo he almost finished Rakhmonov in the final round.
After taking Rakhmonov’s back, Garry came agonisingly close to submitting the unbeaten 30-year-old with a rear naked choke, and although he fell just short of pulling off a major upset, he is happy that he has now proven to the fanbase that he is indeed one of the top fighters in the UFC’s 170lb division.
“I’ll Be Better For This”
“When I come up against opponents that are of a better level and that excite me, it brings the most out of me” exclaimed an excited Garry while speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday. “It brings the best version of me because I have to show up, I have to be on form against someone like a Shavkat or else he will run through you. If you do not come in ready (and) prepared that guy can run through you.
“But he didn’t, and he couldn’t. I shut down all of his success and I nearly had him out. I was that close to putting him asleep and breaking his f**king jaw…just…it’s…awww! It’ll make me better. I’ll be better for this.”
In a fight of fine margins, the first two rounds were likely decided by just one or two strikes. But Garry’s submission attempt in the fifth was clearly the pivotal moment of the contest and one that will surely give the Brazilian-based Dubliner sleepless nights.
“Honestly? That’s the question” replied Garry when aslked by Helwani what he thinks he should have done differently. “(I’ll) go back now, speak to Charles (Oliveira), speak to Demian (Maia), speak to the boys. Draw it up, re-do it, basically just sit down and go, ‘I’m gonna finish every single person I fight from now on with a rear naked choke.’
“I’m done, I need to just be taking people’s backs and choking them unconcious now to fill that ego inside me that’s had…basically that photo (of Garry on Rakhmonov’s back) should have been it, should have been done. So that’s on me to go back and evolve and learn and grow”.
“I Have To Evolve And Grow”
Garry accepted the fight on just a few weeks’ notice after all of the other welterweight contenders shied away from the opportunity to replace Muhammad. with Rakhmonov having built up a reputation as somewhat of a ‘boogeyman’ in the division, the Dubliner is adamant that he never bought into any of the hype and he went into Saturday convinced he could get his hand raised.
“When I stood in that Octagon on Saturday night, I knew and believed that I could go out there and beat that man” said the former Cage Warriors champion, “and I gave it a pretty good go, do you know what I mean? Everything I did…there wasn’t anything in that fight that shocked nor surprised me.
“I told you I respect him in every asset of the game. He’s a great striker, he’s awkward, he’s got great grappling and I believed he was going to try and take me down.
“Leading into the fight, everybody was talking about how he choked me in training yada yada yada…well, who looked like he was going to finish the fight on Saturday night? It wasn’t him. It was only me. I jumped on three submissions, I tried to wrap up all three of them. he defended well…great job.
“When we got back to the feet, I was winning. He had big shots, fair play to him, it’s a fight. I would hope that the…one of the best fighters in the division would be able to have (some) success against me.
“So (my) confidence isn’t rattled, it’s not going anywhere. I know how talented I am, I know how young I am and I know how skilful I will (be) and (already) am right now. It’s just a matter of tiny, miniscule tweaks in a game of inches to go out there and get that finish, get that win and get that belt, so I have no doubt in my mind that next year I will get that belt. No doubt whatsoever. I have to evolve and grow”.
