Ian Machado Garry did more than throw a quick jab at Islam Makhachev‘s grappling. His longer answer laid out the whole UFC 330 problem: Makhachev’s safest win is a slow top-control fight, Garry believes that would be the worst version for everyone watching, and Garry still thinks the champion cannot keep him there for 25 minutes.
Makhachev defends the welterweight title against Garry on August 15, 2026, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. The fight sits at the center of UFC 330’s latest title-fight lineup, and the matchup question is direct. Makhachev wants pressure, clinches, takedowns, and control. Garry wants space, movement, clean reads, and a fight where he can force Makhachev to react.
That is why Garry’s comments were not just about entertainment value. In the same High Performance interview, he said social media has let him shape the public story around his fights instead of leaving that story to others.
“I think that’s what the power of social media has brought has brought. It’s control.”
Garry said the fighting result came first, but he also believes his online push helped move fans toward the same conclusion: that beating the former champion put him in line for Makhachev.
“I know I’ve earned this fight from fighting. But I absolutely know that my online presence has helped funnel fans into the same mindset. Cuz I’ve earned it. There’s no doubt that I’ve earned it. I beat the former champion. My reward for winning this fight means my next fight is a guy I already beat on 3 weeks notice. That’s my reward. That’s That’s my next opponent. Does that make sense? A guy I already beat.
“After Makhachev, when I beat him, my reward is you have to fight a guy again that you already beat on 3 weeks notice.”
Garry then pointed back to the post-fight callout that followed his win, when he put on the leprechaun hat and turned the next title fight into a takedown-defense challenge.
“You can’t stop me. You couldn’t take me down. And Islam he came to your camp and he couldn’t do it. So try doing it yourself. Bring that belt bring that record and I will see you wherever you want me friend. All the best.”
From there, the conversation moved into the actual fight. Garry did not deny Makhachev’s biggest weapon. He named it plainly. If Makhachev can settle on top, Garry said, the fight can turn into something suffocating rather than explosive.
“Being held down for 25 minutes and just having a boring fight. He’s a phenomenal wrestler. A phenomenal grappler. And if you allow him the ability to stay on top and utilize his grappling and his wrestling, he can suffocate you. Just lie on you like a weighted blanket and you just find it so hard to move. And I’m like that’s not fun for anyone. It’s not fun for me. It shouldn’t be fun for him and it’s definitely not fun for anyone watching.
“So, I feel like and he did that. He did exactly that to win the world title fight. And I feel like that’s the worst case scenario. Because the best in the world lose fights by getting knocked out or getting submitted. In this sport in MMA, I don’t winning and losing isn’t like boxing. It’s a very recency bias sport. They love you. They hate you. You win. You lose. Oh, he won again. We all love him again. We We’ve forgotten about the loss. Does that make sense?
Garry then connected that worst-case scenario to a broader point about fighting to win instead of fighting just to avoid a loss.
“And I feel like far too many fighters focus on not losing as opposed to winning. Like just focus on winning. That’s all you need to do. If I go out there and I fight and he out-skilled me and he’s better than me. But I fought him as hard as I could. I can leave that octagon proud that I did everything I possibly could to win that fight. Does that make sense?”
The answer works as a criticism of Makhachev’s safest path, but it is also a window into Garry’s own approach. He is not saying the grappling danger is fake. He is saying he would rather risk a decisive loss while trying to win than accept a cautious fight built around simply surviving.
When the follow-up was that the scenario sounded possible, Garry gave the short answer first.
“It’s not going to happen.”
Asked why, Garry leaned into the belief that has carried this whole title push.
“Because I’m too good. I’m just too good. I just I feel like I’ve been put on this earth to fight and there’s just a divine guidance that when I get in that octagon everything just goes my way. Every time. Every time. I don’t know what it is, how it works. I don’t care to question it. I just enjoy it. I just feel like I’m doing what I love. I’m doing what I was put on this earth to do. And I’ve got so much more to do.”
That confidence is running into a champion whose grappling has been the entire argument for many outside picks. Jon Jones already pointed to Makhachev’s control game, while Khabib Nurmagomedov warned that Garry’s height and movement would force Makhachev to chase him. Garry’s own answer splits the difference: he respects the danger, but he sees it as something to prepare for rather than something to fear.
“It’s just who I am. That I I love that element. Like I thrive off adrenaline. I feel like that’s where I operate the best is just in that clear calm focused mindset.
“Ahead of a fight you think about the fight. You think about the worst things that can possibly happen in the fight because if you don’t you don’t respect your opponent enough.
“So, I find when I fight, I think about all of the bad things that could potentially happen so that it pushes me to train even harder so that I’m ready for every single element of that.”
That mental-prep explanation makes the weighted-blanket comment clearer. Garry was describing the bad version of the night because, in his process, he starts with the negative version first.
“I feel like when I start my when I know who I’m going to fight I start with the the negative elements. What could go wrong? What could he do right? How where could he try win the fight? How could he try win the fight? Is it going to be by taking me down and holding me down? Is it going to be by trying to cause chaos and make it a scramble and I have to be smart with my defense and move my feet and get out of the pocket.
“Once he does that I train for all those. So, that in the fight I know I’m mentally I’ve I’ve done it. And the closer to the fight, every week that gets closer, it’s more and more and more and more positive.”
Garry said fear is not the word for what he feels before his first UFC title fight. He said the risk is real, but the risk is also the cost of getting the moment he wanted.
“I mean no. Because it’s not fear. I’m not afraid of anything. I don’t I don’t know how I would word it in regards to fear cuz it’s not fear.”
“I I’m I’m genuinely like I’m not afraid. There’s nothing I see him doing that I’m afraid of. There’s nothing I think of him doing that I’m afraid of. There’s I chose to do this sport for a living. I chose to get into MMA. I wanted to be a world champion. I wanted to prove I was one of the best in the world. And I have to do that by beating some of the best in the world.”
“So for me there’s no fear. There’s risk of well, you could lose. You could be unconscious. You could be X, Y, Z, but without that risk I’ll never achieve the dream.”
After the host agreed, Garry summed up the risk as part of chasing the belt.
“So, it’s not fear for me. It’s part of the process.”
Garry then listed why Makhachev is the exact opponent he wants for that proof. He described Makhachev as a 29-1 fighter, a two-division champion, the most successful lightweight champion ever, the current welterweight champion, and a fighter chasing the UFC record for consecutive wins.
“So, I have a two-weight world champion. The number one pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. And the same man is looking to break the record for the most wins consecutively in the UFC. And that’s the man I get to fight to prove that I’m the best in the world.
“When I beat him, there can be no doubt. When I When I beat him, it is undeniable that I am great.”
Garry also leaned into the Irish-title-fight comparison that has followed him for years. He said the Conor McGregor parallels are mostly created by the public, but he understands why this particular assignment feels like a legacy shortcut.
“When Conor fought for his first UFC world title, he fought the number one pound-for-pound fighter who hadn’t been beaten for a decade. And he knocked him out in 13 seconds. I cannot wait to step into the octagon against Islam Makhachev and beat him. Because there will be no doubt that I have done it against the best. To be the best, you have to beat the best. And my next opponent right now is regarded by everyone in the world as the number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter on the planet.
“Make no excuses. There will be no doubt. After the fight, I just want it to be known that Ian Machado Garry is great.”
Late in the interview, Garry was asked what he would say to people who believe Makhachev could win. He tied the answer back to the date and setting.
“I’m sure there are people that think he can beat me. And what I think is all that matters. So, when I enter the octagon with him on August 15th in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and that cage door got shut. Afterwards. That the future is inevitable.”
Garry’s point is narrower than a simple confidence line. Makhachev can win ugly if he gets long control, but Garry says the UFC 330 fight turns on whether he can deny that first grip, keep the champion chasing, and make the night about damage instead of top pressure.
