Ian Machado Garry vows to end Islam Makhachev’s 16-fight win streak, eyes ‘domination’ in UFC welterweight class
‘Never getting to 17’ – Garry vows to end Makhachev’s winning run and claim welterweight belt
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Ian Machado Garry hopes to make himself the “undeniable” contender to face UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev by beating Belal Muhammad on Saturday. Makhachev produced a dominant display at UFC 322 to win the welterweight title from Jack Della Maddalena at Madison Square Garden on November 15.There are several welterweights now looking to land a title fight, including Brazil’s Carlos Prates, who knocked out Britain’s Leon Edwards at UFC 322, while Michael Morales stopped Sean Brady. But Machado Garry, currently ranked sixth in the division, is confident victory over second-ranked Muhammad – live on TNT Sports and discovery+ this weekend – will make him the No. 1 contender to face Makhachev, and the Irishman has vowed to end the Russian’s 16-fight winning run.
He told TNT Sports: “There’s a very, very easy plan in my mind of what I want next. I want to beat Belal Muhammad, make it undeniable that I’m next in line for that title.
“I want to stop Islam’s continuous win streak of 16. He’s never going to get to 17 because he’s going to face me next.
“I then want to defend it against Shavkat Rakhmonov, because that’s the right thing to do. I need that win back, prove to the world and to myself that I am just levels above him.”
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Rakhmonov won by unanimous decision when the pair met at UFC 310 in December last year, handing Garry Machado his first career loss.
The Irishman continued: “Then I want to fight Carlos Prates in Rio de Janeiro. Do it in the most beautiful place in the world, beat him in his own country, my adopted country.
“The Brazilians love me more than I love him. That’s a fact, right?
“I know he can’t sleep at night right now, because he keeps waking up and telling himself that he’s better than me, he’s better than me, but I know deep down he knows that’s not true.
“So I need to knock him out in Brazil, give him an opportunity to fight for my belt, knock him out, and then I’ll just say to him, now you can sleep, now you can rest at night.”
Highlights: Edwards knocked out by Prates
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“I’m 28 years of age”, Garry Machado added. “I just turned 28 on Monday. We know that in this sport, fighters hit their prime early to mid-thirties.
“I’ve got domination on my mind, just rinse and repeat, go over the division, go to middleweight, win middleweight, do it all over again.
“I’ve got an abundance of time and health and youth on my side. Where I can be and where I am, it’s irrelevant right now.”
Machado Garry survived a late blitz from Prates to win by unanimous decision when the pair fought at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City in April.
He is confident of a second victory in succession in Qatar on Saturday, hoping to prove that he is the “greatest welterweight walking the planet right now”.
“Belal Muhammad is a perfect example for me to go out and show the world how talented I am,” he said.
“I just don’t see him lasting very long. I just don’t see it the way I’m hitting, the way I’m moving, the power, the vision, the speed. I’m going to break him.
“Belal’s biggest strength is he’s tough and he’s durable, and he likes to get in people’s faces.
“He’s not going to get in my face, he’s going to be kept at a range and I’m going to ping the mouth off him and bust his face open.
“Eventually he’s going to look for an easy way out and I’m going to give it to him. It’s going to be my left or my right hand, landing on his chin and put him to sleep.”
He added: “What I’m going to bring to Belal Mohammed on Saturday night is something that he’s never seen before.”
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