Philadelphia — Islam Makhachev looks to make the first defense of his welterweight title when he faces off against Ian Machado Garry atop UFC 330 this Saturday.
Garry, an Irish star who has trained in Brazil and become a self-promoter in the vein of Conor McGregor (though with far fewer scandals, it’s worth noting), has suggested that the match-up is the highest level mixed martial arts contest under the UFC banner in quite some time.
Makhachev (28-1), asked for his opinion during Wednesday’s UFC 330 media day, hedged his bets, but admitted that Garry certainly has skills.
“I don’t know, maybe. In welterweight, if you watch the last fight, [Jack Della] Maddalena is more a boxer. But I think Ian has more skills. He’s good in the striking, he has good wrestling defense, but he has some weak points. He’s not confident 100%, like myself. But he’s good, it’s going to be a good fight,” stated Makhachev, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “I saw he has good takedown defense; I have some keys to beat him.”
Garry has suggested that his last four opponents were better than Islam Makhachev’s own. The welterweight champ (and former lightweight title holder) countered by asking why he was disrespecting Charles Oliveira, who he has trained alongside. And while Garry beat Carlos Prates arguably for 24 of 25 minutes, “he can beat Carlos, he can beat everyone, but I’m not the same like [those] guys. I’m different,” suggested Makhachev.
Asked whether he can stand toe-to-toe with the dangerous Irish striker, Makhachev replied by saying “Yeah sure. Watch my fights against [Alexander] Volkanovski, Dustin Poirier. I can strike with anyone.”
Wrestling, of course, is the easier path to victory. “If wrestling’s not working, grappling’s not working, I can strike with anyone. But if I want the easy win, I have to take them down and finish them.”
Makhachev famously trains alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov, Umar Nurmagomedov (bantamweight contender and title challenger), and the recently debuted “Chanko” (John Pork), Magomed Zaynukov. Asked who the next big star out of the team will be, Islam suggested it would be Umar’s brother Usman Nurmagomedov, the reigning PFL lightweight champion.
“Usman. I think Usman. We have to see him next,” said Makhachev. “You know, Usman is training with us when he was a very young guy. He’s training with Khabib, myself, all our teammates [his] whole life. And I know 100% he’s ready to fight for the title tomorrow, or for the contender’s match tomorrow. Because he’s a good wrestler, he’s a very good striker, he has good grappling.”
“I think my opinion, Usman did his job great in PFL, and he’s ready to show good performances in UFC.”
Yet while Usman Nurmagomedov might be ready to fight for a UFC title tomorrow, Makhachev does believe he should take another fight first for his promotional debut.
“Maybe Arman [Tsarukyan], or Max [Holloway]. I don’t know. I agree with you, he has to fight one time, because this is one of the big divisions in UFC. Come from out of [promotion] and fight for the title, it’s possible, but I think he has to come, feel this atmosphere, feel all this media and everything, and fight for the title next. Just one fight, and other one for the title.”
Watch the full UFC 330 media day appearance by Islam Makhachev above.
