Belal Muhammad is not buying Ian Machado Garry as some easy puzzle, but he still thinks Islam Makhachev and Garry making the UFC 330 welterweight title fight official ends with the champion dragging the challenger into deep water.
Muhammad, who dropped a unanimous decision to Garry at UFC Fight Night 265 and has trained with Makhachev, broke down the matchup on his YouTube channel before Saturday’s fight at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. It is a useful lane to hear from because he has felt Garry’s range in real time and knows the Makhachev camp’s pressure game up close.
Belal Sees Pressure Breaking Garry Late
Muhammad’s read starts with cage position. He praised Makhachev as a problem everywhere, then pointed to the same tactical chore every Garry opponent runs into. Garry does not need chaos to win rounds. He can poke, move, frustrate, and let the boos rain down if the scorecards are drifting his way.
“Islam is very good. He’s very good everywhere,” Muhammad said. “He’s smart, and they usually come in with a good game plan. So I think with Islam, it’s all about cutting the cage off, cutting the cage off, making Garry uncomfortable on his back foot, closer to the fence, and I think eventually, it will wear on Garry.”
That is the whole chess match without dressing it up like wizard school. Makhachev has to make the cage smaller. Garry wants space, clean looks, calf kicks, and that long counter right when opponents crash in one shot at a time. Muhammad said Garry is “very good at sticking and moving” and does not care if the fight turns slow as long as he is touching and not getting touched.
It also lines up with the larger fight-week picture. Garry has been talking like a man ready to turn a UFC 330 win into the start of his own legacy, while Makhachev has treated the matchup like another target on the board. Muhammad’s pick sits right in the middle of that tension. He sees Garry having moments, just not enough of them once the clinch and takedown threat start taxing the gas tank.
“I’m going with Islam,” Muhammad said. “I think it will be a longer fight. I don’t think it will be an early finish. I think it will probably go to the fourth and fifth round, and if Garry was getting away the first three rounds, I could see him getting finished in the fifth. I could see a sub coming from Islam. I don’t think it’s going to be on the feet for long, I do think Islam will get a couple of takedowns so, I’m going with Islam.”
There is a funny wrinkle here because Muhammad is not tossing out a lazy teammate pick. He just lost to Garry, so he knows the Irishman’s annoying parts are real. The footwork, the low kicks, the willingness to win ugly, all of that can turn a title fight into a long night if Makhachev follows him around instead of trapping him.
Still, Muhammad is calling for Makhachev to make it grim late. After a week packed with UFC 330 predictions around Makhachev and Garry, this one carries a little extra weight because it comes from somebody who has shared the cage with one side and shared rounds with the other. If he is right, Garry’s slick points-fighting game may look great until the fence shows up and the Dagestani squeeze starts getting rude.
