Las Vegas – Even in defeat UFC welterweight Ian Machado Garry sees the silver lining in the moments following his loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 on Saturday night.
“I went out there against the scariest man and I nearly f*cking finished him. That shows that I have a championship mentality,” Garry told reporters including Cageside Press at his post-fight scrum.
“I stood in there across from him and he didn’t gave anything more than I had. I stopped every single one of his takedowns that was clean. I made him fight tooth and nail for everything. That shows the level of talent I have and I deserve to be one of the best in the world and I deserve more respect from this now.”
Garry (15-1) suffered the first loss of his professional career, but if you ask him it doesn’t feel like a loss.
“I did not go out there today to lose. I went out there today to win, and to beat him. I brought everything I had and I had fun doing it. So for me it’s just continue to evolve. I’ve shown every single time I’ve stepped into that octagon that I am one of the best in this division,” Garry told Cageside Press.
“And I just did it today against the scariest man in many people’s eyes. So many people turned down this fight. So many people were running from him. I backed it up. I still feel like I’m winning right now. I do not feel like that man beat me. For everything that he is and what everyone builds him up to be I do not feel like I lost.”
After an exciting five-round bout Garry sees many more rounds coming against Rakhmonov in the future.
“My hand may not have got raised today, and that’s ok. I’ll be back and I will get my hand raised against him one day,” he said.
“That rematch will be very, very fun.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Ian Machado Garry above.
