Just days before the biggest fight of his professional career, No. 7-ranked welterweight Ian Machado Garry was forced to admit he was defeated by his UFC 310 opponent in training.
While most UFC fighters might shy away from facing someone who's tapped them before, Ian Machado Garry isn't “most fighters,” he's “the future” — and you better believe the training story serves to stoke the fire of to fuel the Irish superstar heading into UFC 310.
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Ian Machado Garry makes ominous prediction for UFC 310 fight against Rakhmonov
When 'The Future' first started in the UFC, he traveled to the Kill Cliff MMA gym in Florida and ended up training with his new opponent, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Earlier this week, the undefeated Kazakh reportedly claimed he choked Garry and in a subsequent interview with TalkSport, the Irish superstar would confirm the story… Albeit with an ominous warning not to dwell on the past.
“Look, if he's holding something like that from training two or three years ago, guess what; do it on Saturday night, do it under the bright lights, do it when it matters most – let's see if you can do it.
“I promise you right now, he's not ready for the speed and the beauty yet – he'll look at me like, 'This man is beautiful, what should I do?!' – he will be speechless.”
When asked to clarify if that was a yes or no on the submission story, Garry wanted to clarify that 1) training sessions are not legitimate fights, and 2) he is definitely not the same fighter as all those other fighters. years ago.
“Yes, [but] it's training. Dude, if I told you about all the people I absolutely burned and strangled in training, you'd say I'm already the best fighter in the world. But the truth is that we all learn and practice during training.
“For me, if he wants to hold on to something from two or three years ago, hold on to it – but I'm a different animal than what I was at that moment… I'll put a hole in his head on Saturday night.”
Garry is a big underdog to the undefeated Kazakh finisher, the biggest of the key players, but how does he get the win that sets him up for a title clash with Belal Muhammad?
“Just having fun… just makes me different. The more I laugh and the more I enjoy myself, the worse the evening will be for Shavkat Rakhmonov.”
Irish superstar goes wild against 'coward' Covington
Ian Machado wasn't supposed to compete with Garry at UFC 310; He was originally scheduled to headline UFC Tampa the following week against Joaquin Buckley.
However, after champion Belal Muhammad withdrew with an injury, Garry would step up for the PPV, while long-time rival Colby Covington would replace him for the Florida card on December 14.
“He just magically appeared out of nowhere,” Garry said upon Covington's return.
“He just came out of nowhere, he didn't like 'I'll do it!'… That just shows he's a coward, it proves he never wanted to fight me in the first place.”
Ahead of UFC 310, Covington remains just one spot above Garry at #6, with the Irishman subsequently claiming that 'Chaos' is simply terrified of facing him.
“He's talking his ass off and he's not willing to back it up. He would never, ever, ever get in the octagon with me and face his fears because I'm the man he's most afraid of.”
UFC 310 goes down on Saturday, December 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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