Ian Machado Garry sees holes in Islam Makhachev’s game that he believes he can exploit.
Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is preparing to face former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in the co-main event at UFC Qatar this Saturday, a matchup that could determine the first challenger for Makhachev’s (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) 170-pound title.
Makhachev became the welterweight champion after dominating Jack Della Maddalena over five rounds in the main event at UFC 322 last Saturday. Machado Garry believes he saw enough in that performance to feel optimistic about his own chances of dethroning the new champion should he earn the opportunity with a win this weekend.
"Islam's phenomenal," Machado Garry said during Wednesday's media day. "So, he sticks to the southpaw stance. He looked far cleaner on the feet against Jack this fight, and I was very impressed by that. His calmness and composure was elite compared to what I've seen, but there's still holes.
“If you watch that fight and you focus on the striking, there's obvious gaps that I would absolutely take advantage of. But when he grabs a hold of your leg, he's the best in the world. He's technically beautiful with his wrestling. He's smart, he's intelligent, he doesn't do silly things or make mistakes, he does the right thing every time, and he's a dangerous submission threat.
"However, I don't care for any of that. I'm so intelligent, I'm so smart on the feet, I'm so elusive. I'm long, I'm tall, I'm in rangy, I'm undefeated against southpaws. So when we face off, he's got to get to my leg, and he's got to be able to catch me when I'm longer and taller than anybody he's ever faced before. But also, I'm just wickedly fast. He's never seen anyone as fast as me. He can pull in bantamweights, and they're never going to be as fast as me. I'm the fastest in the world, and that's my specialty. Until they stand in front of me, they think they can do something then their head just starts snapping back, and they don't know what to do."
