Tag: Ian Machado Garry

Ian Machado Garry vs. Joaquin Buckley to headline UFC on ESPN 63 in Tampa

A showdown of top-10 welterweights will close out 2024 in the UFC.

A showdown of top-10 welterweights will close out 2024 in the UFC when [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] takes on [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag].

The fight is set to headline the promotion’s final event of the year, UFC on ESPN 63, on Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., the UFC announced Friday on social media.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DB18bxuzzkz

Machado Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC), No. 7 in the official UFC rankings at 170 pounds, will look for his third win of 2024 as he tries to maintain his perfect record. In 2024, Machado Garry has beaten Geoff Neal by split decision at UFC 298 and Michael Page by unanimous decision at UFC 303.

Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who’s ranked No. 9, will try for his fourth victory of 2024 as he looks to continue climbing the ranks of the division since he moved back down from welterweight in May 2023. Buckley’s wins in 2024 include two longtime staples of the division, Vicente Luque by TKO and most recently a knockout of Stephen Thompson.

With the addition, here’s the current UFC on ESPN 63 lineup:

  • Ian Machado Garry vs. Joaquin Buckley
  • Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas
  • Dustin Jacoby vs. Vitor Petrino
  • Tracy Cortez vs. Miranda Maverick
  • Josefine Knutsson vs. Piera Rodriguez
  • Navajo Stirling vs. Tuco Tokkos
  • Davey Grant vs. Ramon Taveras
  • Manel Kape vs. Bruno Silva
  • Ottman Azaitar vs. Michael Johnson
  • Daniel Marcos vs. Adrian Yanez

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.

Ian Machado Garry: I accepted UFC offer to fight Colby Covington, but ‘he’s avoiding me like the plague’

Ian Machado Garry says it took him “all of 20 seconds” to accept a fight with Colby Covington when the UFC came knocking a month ago.

According to [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag], the UFC offered him a fight with [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag], but the holdup isn’t on his side.

Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) has been angling to meet Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in the octagon for several months now, and the unbeaten welterweight contender revealed that the UFC came to him with a bout offer a month ago.

Garry accepted but said he’s yet to hear back from Covington.

“What’s up, everyone? So, I’m coming on to let everybody know, keep everybody in the loop and keep everyone updated because it matters,” Garry said in a video on his Instagram. “A month ago, I was offered a fight with Colby Covington. It took me all of 20 seconds to respond to the email saying, ‘Yes, I’m in.’ A month later, we’ve still got no response from Colby. He’s avoiding me like the plague, and there’s one reason and one reason only this fight isn’t happening, and his name is Colby Covington.”

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBLmpNHgTsh/?igsh=MWRsMWR2bDFpeXN1dA%3D%3D

In May, Covington denied ever being offered to fight Garry and said he’s seeking bigger fights. The three-time UFC title challenger and former interim champion hasn’t competed since a losing to then-champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December 2023.

Garry has competed twice in 2024, defeating Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in February and Michael Page at UFC 303 in June.

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Sean Brady calls out Ian Machado Garry or ‘easiest matchup in the division’ Colby Covington after UFC Fight Night 242 win

Coming off a dominant win over Gilbert Burns, Sean Brady wants to fight Ian Machado Garry or Colby Covington next.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] or [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag]. Those are the two names [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] wants following his latest win in the octagon.

This past Saturday, Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defeated former UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) in a dominant unanimous decision win. The welterweight bout headlined UFC Fight Night 242 at the UFC Apex.

In his in-cage post-fight interview, Brady called out Garry, but then in the post-fight press conference, he added one more name to the request.

“I just think Ian thinks he’s God’s gift to earth, and he’s not, and I feel like everyone in this sport feel the same way,” Brady told reporters backstage. “I’ll fight him. I’ll fight Colby (Covington). I think Colby is the easiest matchup in the division. I’ll piece him up on the feet. I’ll rag doll him.

“I’d like to fight Ian – he’s an up and comer. I’m a little bit older than him, but I want to be here for a long time. He’s undefeated and he’s got some hype. Before, he said that he won’t fight guys ranked behind him, but I’ll be ranked ahead of him on Tuesday with that No. 6 spot. So yeah, maybe I’ll let him fight me. We’ll see how that goes.”

Brady is expecting a child with his wife in February, and he’d like to log in one more fight before then. When asked if he thinks Garry or Covington would take fights with him, Brady felt good about his chances.

“You can’t really turn down too many opportunities,” Brady said. “I’m going to go home, asses my bumps and bruises, and we’ll see where we’re at. But Colby or Ian Garry sounds like a fun one. Maybe December or early January. Like I said, before February 13th.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.

Stephen Thompson: I’d love to fight Ian Machado Garry, but ‘I don’t think he would give me a chance’

Stephen Thompson likes the idea of fighting Ian Machado Garry, but he doubts it’ll happen.

Former UFC welterweight title challenger [autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] likes the idea of fighting [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag], but he doubts it’ll happen.

Stylistically, Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is an appealing matchup for Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC), but he acknowledges that he’s not on “The Future’s” radar. Thompson, 41, is no longer chasing UFC gold but is confident he can still compete with top contenders. When asked his thoughts on potential matchups with Garry and Michael Page, “Wonderboy” explained why Garry is more appealing.

“I think it would be great, especially Ian Garry,” Thompson said on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “But at this point in time, I kind of see where he’s at. Like, he’s just looking for the gold. I don’t think he would even want to give me a chance. I’m ranked No. 9. He’s close to the title. I think he’s looking for that next. And MVP, I think it would be – I think the fans would love that fight. That’s the thing. I think it would just be that.

“Just moving around and staring at each other the whole time. We’re both counter strikers, you know. We got that karate background, we want guys to come forward so they run into our techniques, so we can work our angles, so we can blitz. But when you have another counter striker on the other side of the octagon with you, it could possibly be one of the most boring fights ever, and I think people would boo it. I think people would boo that fight. I really do, man.”

Garry remained unbeaten when he scored a close decision win over Page at UFC 303. Meanwhile, Thompson will look to rebound when he meets rising contender Joaquin Buckley (19-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) Oct. 5 at UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) from Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

“What made the Ian Garry fight so special and exciting was Ian Garry just came forward,” Thompson said. “He wanted to come forward. He wanted to get close, which can play into ‘MVP’s’ hands, but obviously Ian Garry got the best of him that night.

“I would love to have that fight with Ian Garry for sure, but I think he’s just going to go for the title. But I don’t mind fighting these young bucks like Joaquin Buckley and Kevin Holland and all these guys. It’s fun to still test myself against these guys coming up.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Sean Brady hopes to fight Ian Machado Garry with Gilbert Burns win: ‘He’s got a lot of work to do’

Sean Brady is still interested in fighting Ian Machado Garry.

[autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] is still interested in fighting [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag].

Brady (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) takes on former title challenger [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] (22-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) in the UFC Fight Night on Sept. 7 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile, Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) remained unbeaten when he edged out Michael Page at UFC 303. Brady wasn’t impressed with what he saw out of the Irishman.

“To be completely honest, not impressed – not impressed with Ian. Not impressed with MVP, either,” Brady told Luke Thomas. “Ian’s going on talking about he wants Shavkat (Rakhmonov), he wants this, he wants that. I thought he barely scraped through that fight. It could have been a draw in my book. I really didn’t see where he thought he did an amazing job.”

Garry almost submitted Page in Round 1 when he had his back, but wasn’t able to cinch the rear-naked choke. Brady was critical of Garry’s grappling and wants a piece of him if he gets past Burns.

“Ian got on (Page’s) back, but he couldn’t do anything with it,” Brady added. “Even in the first round, he had the body triangle and almost a fully locked in rear-naked choke, you have Demian Maia in your corner, and you can’t finish ‘MVP’? Even his striking, he got cracked on his feet and he wanted no more part of it.

“He was saying he was going to knock out ‘MVP’ in the first round and he barely landed a punch. He’s got a lot of work to do, and I hope – obviously not looking past Gilbert, but I beat Gilbert, Ian said he wants to fight again in December, I get to turn that right back around and me and him get to finally do it.”

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Michael Page: Leon Edwards, Shavkat Rakhmonov ‘kill’ Ian Machado Garry

Michael Page doesn’t see championship potential in Ian Machado Garry.

[autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] doesn’t see championship potential in [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag].

Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) remained unbeaten when he edged out Page last month at UFC 303. He was able to outgrapple “MVP” and land a pivotal takedown late in Round 3 to secure the win.

Garry expressed interest in facing [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] next, but Page (22-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) doesn’t see him winning that fight – or being the one to dethrone welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag].

“Not at all, no,” Page said on The MMA Hour. “Because if that’s the game you’re going to go when you get a decent striker, then Leon is going to kill you anyway, then Shavkat is going to kill you anyway. There’s a few guys in there that I just don’t see him surpassing. He went a bit more tactical and even in some of the areas, he didn’t feel massively strong. I’m not even trying to be disrespectful to him because again, he’s done his job, he was smart about how he kind of went by it.

“But for me, regardless, this game for me is about combat. It’s about fighting. Not about stealing wins. Even like I said, that last round, I didn’t necessarily need to stand up or need to let him stand up. I could’ve stayed there and just dragged it out and potentially got a better score in the third round and maybe that would’ve swayed it, but that’s not the game I’m in. I’m in a combat game. Like, I want to cause damage, I want to hurt people.”

So what’s Garry’s ceiling in Page’s opinion? A perennial welterweight contender.

“I don’t see him progressing to the top,” Page said. “I think he’s talented. I think he’ll always be around there – top 10, top five – and then he’ll keep losing out to certain people. But he is still talented, and obviously he’s got a loads of time to progress and get better anyway.”

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Gilbert Burns on Ian Machado Garry: ‘People are still doubting him, but he’s that good’

Gilbert Burns thinks the sky is the limit for Ian Machado Garry.

[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] thinks the sky is the limit for [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag].

Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) defeated Michael Page (22-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) by unanimous decision in this past Saturday’s UFC 303 main card opener at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Garry received some criticism for his grappling approach, but Burns (22-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) praised the Irishman for implementing a smart game plan against a dangerous striker in Page.

“I think in that fight, he wanted to showcase his improvements – and that’s the best (way) to show your improvements in the grappling and (Page is) dangerous in the striking,” Burns said on Morning Kombat.

“I think it was a very close fight, but I think Ian showed a lot of improvements in his grappling. This guy is only 26. He showed a lot of potential. He has dangerous striking with good IQ, and his jiu-jitsu is getting better and better.”

Burns has a good relationship with Garry, but has no issues fighting him if they get matched up. Garry called out Shavkat Rakhomonov after his win, and each fighter has opposing views on how their training sessions at Kill Cliff FC went.

Having trained with both fighters at Kill Cliff FC, Burns gave some insight on their sparring sessions.

“I think he’s very tough,” Burns said on Garry. “He’s scrappy. He’s getting so much better. I even remember those sessions with Shavkat (Chimaev). On the feet, he was doing good – very good. It was just getting way harder when Shavkat was taking him down. But now, he’s putting a lot of emphasis on his grappling.

“That’s one fight that might happen – Ian and Shavkat. That would be a good fight. … He’s good. People are still doubting him, but he’s that good. People should start believing a little bit more in the guy. He’s only 26. Guy’s confidence is very good, very high IQ, works very hard, crazy gas tank, good volume. I think he’s going to do super well with a lot of the guys in the division.”

Burns meets Sean Brady in a UFC Fight Night main event Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

Ian Machado Garry: ‘You’re full of sh*t’ if you scored UFC 303 fight vs. Michael Page a draw

Ian Machado Garry thinks it’s pretty clear he beat Michael Page at UFC 303.

[autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] thinks it’s pretty clear he beat [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] at UFC 303.

Garry (15-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) picked up a unanimous decision win over Page (22-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) this past Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, winning Rounds 1 and 3 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Garry almost cinched in a rear-naked choke in Round 1, but Page was able to rally in Round 2 and land the more significant strikes. Round 3 was close, with Page controlling the start, and Garry regaining momentum to close out the fight strong.

“Livid – absolutely livid,” Garry said about his performance on The MMA Hour. “It should have been done in the first round. There should have never been a second, there should have never been a third. It should have been, ‘Ian Machado Garry takes his back and subs him unconscious.’

“That’s what it should have been. I’ve already lost sleep over that and I just have this burning sensation in my brain that is just – it’s the competitor in me. It’s the perfectionist in me that goes, ‘Tthat was where the fight should have been done and dusted.'”

UFC CEO Dana White scored the fight a draw, but Garry heavily disagrees with anyone who says that he didn’t win the fight.

“You’re full of sh*t,” Garry said. “You need to go back and watch the fight. First round was mine. Here’s the thing: There is more of a case to say that I won all three rounds than than there is to say it was a draw. That’s the way I look at it. First round, dominated. No one in the world is arguing that. Third round, it’s pretty obvious I won.

“I ended up on bottom somehow. It was just a weird exchange of punches, ended up on bottom, I used elbows from the bottom, in tight, dirty. I had the damage when I was off my back. I went, ‘OK, I’m going to stand up.’ Then I ended up taking him down, getting his back, and dusting him up a little bit. It wasn’t a massive amount of damage, but there was absolutely nothing from ‘MVP.'”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.

USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings, July 2: Alex Pereira overtakes Jon Jones for P4P No. 1

Check out the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings following UFC 303 in Las Vegas, in which a new P4P king has been crowned.

Following UFC 303 and 2024 PFL 6, the USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings required updating.

A massive shakeup has occurred in the MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings following the UFC’s pay-per-view event headlining International Fight Week in Las Vegas.

Alex Pereira knocked out Jiri Prochazka in Round 2 of their light heavyweight title rematch, and as a result, shook up the top of the P4P rankings.

Jon Jones returned to claim the No. 1 P4P spot after winning the heavyweight title in his divisional debut at UFC 285, and held it until now. Due to his incredible performances and high activity, Pereira, a former middleweight champion, swoops in to take the throne after winning his fourth straight fight, all of which were against former light heavyweight champions.

Due to inactivity, Jones falls to No. 3 behind lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.

Also in action at the pay-per-view event, [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] and [autotag]Macy Chiasson[/autotag] made waves in the rankings with their victorious outings.

Check out all the latest pound-for-pound and divisional USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie rankings above.

Video: Recapping Diego Lopes’ gutsy win, split decision in Ian Machado Garry vs. Michael Page, more

On the latest episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel breaks down some of the key results outside the main event of UFC 303.

A lot happened at UFC 303.

On top of the championship rematch between Alex Pereira and Jiri Prochazka, Saturday’s UFC event in Las Vegas saw [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag] defeat [autotag]Dan Ige[/autotag] in a fight that was put together in hours of notice, [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] edge [autotag]Michael Page[/autotag] in a split decision, and a ton more.

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Farah Hannoun, Mike Bohn and host Gorgeous George discuss some of the key results that went down outside the main event of the card.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/live/9bFDhZ86n44

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