Headlining UFC Kansas City this Saturday, Ian Machado Garry if nothing else has proven game to take on anyone.
Coming in off a fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov, which he accepted on short notice after already being booked against Joaquin Buckley last year, Garry doesn’t seem to have “no” in his vocabulary.
“That just speaks to the character of the person I am. I’m born and bred in Dublin, Ireland. We’re called the Fighting Irish for a reason,” Garry (15-1) said during Wednesday’s UFC Kansas City media day, asked about his willingness to take on all comers. “And I’m just out here putting that on display for the world to see.”
When the call comes to offer a fight, Garry continued, “there’s only one answer. It’s only yes. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, eight weeks. It’s yes, and I’ll do everything I can to make it possible and make that happen. I love to fight, there’s nothing more I love in this world than fighting, and I’m living my dream right now fighting the best guys in the world.”
That’s a mindset Garry says he’ll maintain when he becomes champion. “It doesn’t matter who, it doesn’t matter when, I want to prove I’m the best against everyone. And I think Carlos is up there.”
While Garry had some praise for UFC Kansas City opponent Carlos Prates, member of the red-hot Fighting Nerds, the Irish star doesn’t see him as quick as Michael “Venom” Page, or having the well-roundedness of Shavkat Rakhmonov. “For me this is a guy who, I can go out there and put on full display that I am just levels and levels above him, and I’m excited to do it.”
Ahead of Saturday’s welterweight main event, the two have traded barbs on social media. In particular, Garry accused the Brazilian of quitting in a fight— and he hopes to see that again inside the octagon in Kansas City.
“When the going gets tough, he quits. And on Saturday night, I’m going to put him in that position where he has to make a choice, and I want him to quit.”
Watch Ian Machado Garry’s full UFC Kansas City media day appearance above.
