He was looking for a fight on April 8, but Ian Garry is going to have to wait an extra month.
On the bright side, Garry (11-0) is getting a considerable bump up in competition when the undefeated welterweight meets Daniel Rodriguez (17-3) at the UFC’s May 13, 2023 Fight Night event.
“D-Rod” confirmed the booking on social media on Thursday, following an initial report by ESPN Deportes.
Garry, 25, has hit the ground running in the UFC, with the Dublin, Ireland native winning his first four fights with the promotion. Most recently, he put away China’s Song Kenan in a wildly entertaining three-round affair at UFC 285 that ended with under a minute to go.
A former Cage Warriors champ, Garry appears to be the heir apparent to Conor McGregor in terms of Irish star power in the UFC — though Rodriguez will look to halt the hype train come May.
Coming off a loss to Neil Magny, Rodriguez will look to get back in the win column after his own four-fight win streak was snapped. In that span, the California native picked up wins over Mike Perry, Kevin Lee, and Li Jingliang.
The UFC’s May 13 event does not yet have a location, venue, or broadcast plan officially announced. A light heavyweight match-up between Anthony Smith and Johnny Walker is expected to serve as the headliner.
The following match-ups have been reported for the card to date:
- Anthony Smith vs. Johnny Walker
- Jessica-Rose Clark vs. Tainara Lisboa
- Matt Brown vs. Court McGee
- Jailton Almeida vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Angela Hill
- Jake Matthews vs. Gabe Green
- Douglas Silva de Andrade vs. Cody Stamann
- Kim Ji-yeon vs. Mandy Böhm
- Daniel Rodriguez vs. Ian Garry
