Undefeated Irish phenom Ian Machado Garry made some rather bold claims following his decision victory over Michael Page at UFC 303.
The fight itself against MVP might not have lived up to the expectations set by the intense build-up during UFC 303 Fight Week, but the victory means Ian Machado Garry continues his ascent up the UFC welterweight rankings. Now, ‘The Future’ has a fellow undefeated phenom in his sights.
Ian Machado Garry calls out Shavkat Rakhmonov, ‘Nomad’ responds in kind
Ian Machado Garry typically has a callout locked and loaded, fire to fire as soon as he’s given the microphone, but ‘The Future’ humbly chose to dedicate his post-fight speech to his friends and teammates at Chute Box Academy in Brazil.
Yet it wasn’t long before the Irishman was back in front of the cameras with an actual callout, explaining how whilst he’s looking forward to some well-deserved rest and recovery, remaining active is the key to earning a shot at the UFC welterweight title.
“You’re going to love this – you know that I’m a family man, I’m going home to England-Ireland and I’m going to try to buy a house. I’ve been traveling the world for three and a half years [and] I don’t have a home- I want to play ‘house’ with my family. I deserve it, we deserve it.
“I want to be active though, being active is the single biggest thing to me. I’m not going to stop training and I would love to fight again in Las Vegas in December so let’s see who’s ready.”
“I’ve been calling out Colby, I’ve been calling out Shavkat, I’ve been calling out Usman,” he lamented to the media following his UD win over Page, “Give me anyone that’s ranked higher than me and let me get my hand raised in the most fabulous style I possibly can.”
At the post-fight press conference, Garry noted that “There are some big names, [and] there’s some cool matchups” awaiting him at the top of the 170lb tree – including against fellow undefeated phenom and ‘bogeyman’ of the welterweight division, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“You know there’s Shavkat, 18-0, undefeated and I’d love to get my hands on him.
“I’ve trained with him, I have nothing but respect for the guy, but I want to be the first guy to take his 0 and I know that I can do it.”
Garry added in conversation with Megan Olivi how he’s looking forward to the chance to prove his grappling credentials can match those of the undefeated ‘Nomad’.
“I’ve just beat the fastest guy in the division other than me. When it comes to striking – I can do it. When it comes to grappling, we’ve seen the growth I’ve had, and I’m excited to go out there [and] prove it against someone like him.”
Only a few minutes later and Rakhmonov would issue his own response to Garry’s callout – in which he didn’t outright dismiss the fight offer, but simply remind the Irishman of what happened the last time they sparred together.
“Looks like Ian forgot what happened during those training sessions. I don’t mind reminding him in the future.”
At the time of writing, Rakhmonov is currently ranked as the #3 best active welterweight in the UFC, only behind former champion Kamaru Usman and soon-to-be title challenger Belal Muhammad.
Rakhmonov does not have his next fight officially booked, with his last bout in the UFC ending in a second-round submission victory over Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson; that fight took place in December 2023.
Dana White didn’t actually have Garry winning his fight vs MVP
Whilst Ian Machado Garry will be hoping that Dana White and the brass take him up on his fight offer to Shavkat Rakhmonov, the UFC President actually didn’t even think that Garry had won his fight against Page.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, White revealed that he had the contest scored a draw and that MVP was just one poor decision away from stealing the decision win himself.
“Sean [Shelby] and Mick [Maynard] felt like that fight would play out exactly the way it did leading up to this fight… I had that fight a draw, yeah… I mean if they came out and said, ‘That fight was a draw’, that’s exactly what I thought that fight was too.”
White stated that Garry easily won the first, MVP easily won the second, and that it was a coin toss at the end of the third round – although the result could have been different, had MVP made the right call.
“Obviously, Ian won the first round, MVP won the second round, and it was 50/50 in the third round… What was crazy was MVP had that top position and he gave it up, he could have rode that out and won the round but he stood up and gave up that top position.”
With the unanimous decision victory over Michael Page, Ian Machado Garry improved his professional record to a perfect 15-0.
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