Ian Machado Garry is confident in how he matches up against UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) will look to stake his claim at a title shot when he takes on former champion Belal Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 265 co-main event at ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar (ESPN+).
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Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) outgrappled Jack Della Maddalena in a dominant performance to claim the title at UFC 322, but Machado Garry thinks there are particular aspects of Makhachev’s striking game that he can expose.
“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.”
Makhachev had over 19 minutes of control time against Della Maddalena, who had no answers for his wrestling. The former UFC lightweight champion and current welterweight champion has finished eight of his past 10 opponents.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ian Machado Garry sees ‘obvious gaps’ in Islam Makhachev’s game
