Dana White praised Ian Machado Garry’s takedown defense after Islam Makhachev’s UFC 330 win, but he believed Garry let a major fifth-round opportunity pass.
White had spent fight week calling Garry a dangerous problem for Makhachev. After the unanimous decision, he credited the challenger while criticizing the friendly start to the final round.
HISTORY MADE@MAKHACHEVMMA defeats Ian Machado Garry by unanimous decision to defend his welterweight title and set the record for the longest win streak in UFC history!
[ #UFC330 | B2YB: @DrinkMonaco ] pic.twitter.com/4gRsCMCw1k
— UFC (@ufc) August 16, 2026
White’s complete UFC 330 post-event interview is below:
White Saw An Upset Opportunity
“I felt like tonight was set up for the upset. I felt like the upset could happen tonight with so much on the line, all the records that Islam has, and he’s going to break Anderson Silva’s record. There’s weight classes for a reason. Ian Garry is a big, rangy, strong guy who has great takedown defense. I mean, if you look at his takedown defense tonight against Islam, it was impressive. I think that Ian is a talented guy.”
“If he had even an ounce of killer instinct in that fifth round, you know, he had been beating him to the body. Islam’s whole, I think, right side was beat up. His face was beat up. You don’t come out and hug and shake hands. That shit drives me fucking crazy when there’s so much at stake. And there’s also, you know, a lot of mental gamesmanship, whatever you want to call it, in this game. You come out in that fifth round with a flying knee or something crazy and you try to finish the fight. This is one of those fights that Ian will go back and watch and say, ‘Fuck, wish I could do that over again.'”
A reporter said Garry appeared to be the fresher fighter before Round 5. White agreed and described the sequence that allowed Makhachev to close the fight.
“One hundred percent. And, you know, if he came out and tried to destroy and win that last round, you know, with everything that he had, I think it’s a totally different fight. And then he gives Islam that explosive—you know, he exploded up and got his back, and once he took his back and put the hooks in, that was a wrap. He’s going to ride that out till the round ends.”
“But on the Islam side, Islam went out, you know, the complete opposite now, against a bigger, strong, rangy guy who has good takedown defense, controlled him, shut him down. I don’t know if he was in his head and Ian felt like he had to come out and shake hands in the fifth round or whatever, but Islam did exactly what he needed to do to win that fight.”
White Detailed His Post-Fight Talk With Garry
“When I went in after the fight and Ian Garry came over and shook my hand, Ian Garry’s handshake is like a fucking vice grip, you know, and he is a big, powerful, rangy guy. And, you know, for Islam to go in and do what he did to him tonight—physical and mental.”
“He’s just like, ‘Listen, I know I’m one of the best in the world and, you know, I’ll be back. This isn’t going to…’ Yeah, well, five minutes ago—five minutes ago—if you’d have come out of that fucking corner like a raging fucking bull, you know, we might be having a different conversation right now.”
“I think that Ian’s a classy guy is what I think. He always shows class. Before the fight, he goes over and shakes all the corners’ hands and all that stuff. It’s great, but when that fucking bell rings, you got to switch all that shit off. And you definitely got to do it in the fifth round after he fought a great fight against Islam, who everybody in this room and everybody else is saying, well, we might start talking about GOAT. You don’t go shake the fucking GOAT’s hand going into the fifth round. You come out to fucking annihilate him. That just has to be your mindset, in my humble opinion.”
White Also Credited Makhachev’s Record Win
“And it’s very hard. And if he keeps going like he says he’s going to keep going, I mean, it might never be beaten, at least while I’m alive. So, it’s very impressive what he did.”
“You can flip that whole script and then drop it on Islam, on how impressively he beat a big, strong, rangy guy who was doing damn good work. Islam did everything he needed to do to beat this guy. And like I said, there’s weight classes for a reason, and tonight’s matchup was a perfect example of that.”
Makhachev is already discussing a quick pre-Ramadan return after extending his UFC winning streak to 17. Garry left UFC 330 at 17-2 after his first championship opportunity.
