MMA news: Ian Machado Garry ‘seething’ after title bout denial, excited for Carlos Prates match-up
After stepping up at short notice to take on Shavkat Rakhmonov in a title eliminator bout in December and losing a tight affair, Ian Machado Garry returns to action on April 26, when he faces rising star Carlos Prates in Kansas City.
Rakhmonov, for his part, was subsequently scheduled for a Welterweight Championship fight with current champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315, but the Kazakh has since been forced to withdraw from the May showpiece and replaced by Jack Della Maddalena.
Garry has now revealed in an interview on The Ariel Helwani Show that he was left ‘seething’ by the UFC’s decision to snub him as a replacement.
Sports News Blitz writer Niall Togher reports on the story.
UFC’s title bout decision angers Garry
In a wide-ranging discussion with Helwani, Garry touched on his disgust at being overlooked to replace Rakhmonov at UFC 315.
“I was steaming red,” the Irishman said regarding the snub. “I was in an Uber on the way home from training at Chute Boxe, and my agent called me and filled me in. I hung the phone up, and I was like ‘give me a moment, I’ll call you back’. I was just seething.”
Despite losing to Rakhmonov in December, Garry gained many plaudits for his performance, with the fight being much closer and more competitive than anticipated.
Indeed, Rakhmonov was regarded as the ‘bogeyman’ of the division going into the fight, but Garry nevertheless managed to win the third round before nearly submitting the Kazakh in the fifth and ultimately losing on the judges’ scorecards.
On account of that strong showing, Garry felt that he had earned the right to replace Rakhmonov in the event of injury.
“The words I heard were ‘we can’t give him a title shot off a loss’, and I’m like ‘yeah, but you can and you have done many times in the past’,” he told Helwani. “So I kind of just went ‘you know what, I’ve got a lot to do and I’m excited’. April 26th – we’ll show the world what’s up.”
Garry turns his attention to Prates
Up next for Garry is a main event against one of the most hyped-up prospects in the welterweight division: Carlos Prates.
Since earning his place in the UFC by way of winning his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series, Prates has racked up a 4-0 record courtesy of four KOs in a run that has included wins over established veterans like Li Jingliang and Neil Magny.
That electric form has now earned Prates a shot at a top-10 contender in Garry, who is once again taking the fight on at short notice.
When asked why he would take such a risk, Garry was unequivocal: “Is that not what I’m in this sport for? The excitement. Yeah, f*ck it, let’s go! Let’s have a short-notice fight against one of the most dangerous up-and-comers in the UFC. Let’s do it, 100%, why not?
“That is the type of thing that excites me, that makes me want to go out and prove to the world I’m the best. If this man thinks he’s as good as he is, then he steps across that Octagon on April 26th against me. That’s his do-or-don’t time and, I promise you, I’m going to finish this guy.”
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