Islam Makhachev believes Ian Machado Garry‘s UFC 330 plan is already clear: move, stay long, and make the champion chase.
Makhachev is scheduled to defend the UFC welterweight title against Garry on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Garry has talked about the challenge from his side, including calling Makhachev the toughest title test ever. Makhachev answered by saying he expects to run after Garry, catch him, take him down, and let Charles Oliveira teach him only one thing.
Islam Makhachev on preparing for Ian Machao Garry at #UFC330:
"I just have to run in this camp too much because I have to follow him. He runs too much. I know his game plan."
On what Charles Oliveira can teach him:
"Teach him how to tap fast. That’s it."
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— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) July 27, 2026
Makhachev Says Camp Stayed In New Jersey
Asked how preparation was going a couple of weeks out from the fight, Makhachev said the main pieces of his team are already around him.
“Everything is going very well. We stay in the same gym like last couple fights. We stay in New Jersey and training in Nick Catone MMA. It’s very nice gym.”
“I have too many, too many my brothers and friends and sparring partner with me. Almost all team is here. We training together. Khabib is here. Javier is here, you know. And we training every day very hard to be ready.”
The Ireland-Dagestan angle also came up because of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s history with Conor McGregor and Usman Nurmagomedov’s two PFL wins over Paul Hughes. Makhachev did not make the Garry fight about countries, but he still mentioned the score.
“Uh this is just like a regular opponent. It’s not nothing some big between country, but still we have 2-0 now. It’s going to be 3-0.”
Makhachev Expects To Chase Garry
Garry’s height, range, and slower-paced movement style were put to Makhachev directly. The champion answered by naming the part of camp he expects to feel most.
“Uh his skills, I just have to run in this camp too much because I have to follow him because he run too much, you know. I know his game plan. We always see his fight and he have same style always. And but I will try to catch him, take him down, just what I did with my all opponents.”
That line makes Makhachev’s tactical read simple. Garry has already said Makhachev’s grappling can feel like a weighted blanket, while Makhachev says he already knows Garry will try to stay away and reset. His answer is to close the space and force the takedown anyway.
The sharpest answer came when Makhachev was asked whether former opponent Charles Oliveira, who has trained with Garry, could give the challenger anything useful.
“Yeah, Charles is going to teach him how to tap fast. That’s it.”
Oliveira lost to Makhachev by second-round arm-triangle choke in 2022. With Cain Velasquez already calling Makhachev a complete fighter before this matchup, Makhachev’s latest comments keep the focus on pressure, takedowns, and whether Garry can stay away for five rounds.
