Philadelphia — We’ll find out in Saturday’s UFC 330 main event if “The Future” has arrived.
Ireland’s Ian Machado Garry (17-1) is the first man up to challenge the welterweight reign of Islam Makhachev, who left his lightweight crown behind and dethroned Jack Della Maddalena last year.
Garry insisted that media members focus on the fight, and nothing else (there’s been a fair bit of talk about comments he made about women ruling the world ahead of the fight) on Wednesday, starting with a statement to that effect during the event’s media day.
“Before we start, I just want to make one thing abundantly clear: I’ve got the biggest fight of my life this weekend, I’m absolutely, completely f*cking focused on the fight, so let’s stick to the professional stuff, yeah? Let’s talk about the fighting, let’s talk about Islam, let’s talk about the fight, nothing else,” stated Garry.
Asked about getting to a title fight, Garry explained that “I knew, from the moment I started this sport, I knew that talent I had. And I knew that with all the talent, the discipline, the sacrifice, and the hard work that I knew I would put in, I knew I would get here. And I have got here, and nobody in the world deserves a title shot more than me.”
Garry admitted that the reality of it hasn’t hit him just yet, and he expects that to come later this week, at the ceremonial weigh-ins when all the media obligations and weight cutting are done. “I think then it will kind of come to reality that it’s real. But I’ve always said, I want to fight the toughest fighters in the world, the best fighters in the world, because that’s how you become great. You leave no question marks, no excuses.”
Addressing the size of champ Makhachev, who moved up from lightweight last year, Garry suggested that “he’s not going to be undersized when it comes to weight. There’s not going to be any difference from a strength point of view. He’s going to be strong, he’s going to weight the same as me. However, I couldn’t physically make 155. So when you talk about natural welterweights, I’m bigger. I couldn’t make the weight he used to make.”
“I think it’s more stylistically this fight is interesting, than size. If anything, maybe I’m tall. It’s better for him, because there’s more room for him to get under, to get to my legs. There’s more leg to get,” Garry added.
Speaking to Cageside Press, Garry added that there will be no pranks this week, like when he ordered pizza for opponent Daniel Rodriguez during his weight cut. “No I don’t want him missing weight. I don’t want any excuses,” said Garry.
Should he wake up Sunday as the UFC welterweight champion, it will prove that “I’ve been right all along,” Garry told us. “I’ve been right all along.”
“You know what, when you paint that picture, when you wake up Sunday morning, you’re the champion of the world. When I paint that picture, I wake up, I’m going to start cutting strawberries for my little boy. I’m going to get some watermelon out of the fridge, I’m going to make him his cereal. When I wake up, I’m a dad. That’s it. There is nothing more important to me in my life than being the best father and husband that I possibly can be. That is my single biggest focus in life.”
Fighting, on a selfish level, is Garry’s joy and passion, he added, “but nowhere near as important to me on the grand scheme of life.”
Watch the full UFC 330 media day appearance by Ian Machado Garry above.
