Islam Makhachev is turning up the heat ahead of his first welterweight title defense, taking aim at Ian Machado Garry’s style before their UFC 330 headliner on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Makhachev, the UFC welterweight champion with a 28-1 MMA and 17-1 UFC record, is set to face Machado Garry, who holds a 17-1 MMA and 10-1 UFC mark. The matchup comes after Machado Garry’s two most recent unanimous decision wins over Carlos Prates and Belal Muhammad. He has not finished a fight since a TKO win over Daniel Rodriguez in 2013.
Breaking down the challenger, Makhachev said, "Style-wise, he’s a tricky fighter," but quickly followed with criticism. "He constantly runs away, fights on the backfoot. His opponents always have to chase him. I wouldn't say he's an entertaining fighter. From this perspective, (Michael) Morales, for example, he can wrestle, he goes forward. But 'going forward' has nothing to do with Ian Garry."
The champion also dismissed the idea that Machado Garry can rapidly close the grappling gap. "As I said before, it doesn't work that way," Makhachev said. "You can't learn how to wrestle within three-four months or even half a year. (Jack) Della Maddalena worked on that, too, brought some guys in his camp. He spent his whole camp on it, and what? I had five attempts, and I took him down all five times."
Machado Garry has publicly embraced the challenge of Makhachev’s ground game. "He might get me down," he said. "I hope he does, 'cause I want to prove to the world that he can't submit me. I want to prove to the world that I can get back up. I want to prove to the world that I can beat him in his own world. I don't care how long he's trained in that area. I don't care if he's an internationally recognized master of Sambo or not."
