Ian Machado Garry wants UFC gold on the line in his next fight.
And the Irishman believes this will ultimately carve out a path to him becoming the promotion’s biggest star.
Machado Garry survived a very late scare from Carlos Prates in what was a largely dominant victory in the main event of UFC Kansas City on Saturday night.
The win has put the 27-year-old in a good position to fight for the UFC welterweight strap next after suffering the first defeat of his career against Shavkat Rakhmonov in his last outing.
Belal Muhammad is the current champion at 170 pounds, and Machado Garry is the official backup fighter for the former’s first defence of the belt at UFC 315 against Jack Della Maddalena in May.
Speaking to the media after his win, Machado Garry oozed confidence as he laid out a three-fight plan for his future.
“I’m going to fight the winner [of UFC 315]. I believe it’s Belal,” Garry said.
“And that’s nothing against Jack. I just believe stylistically Belal has what it takes to get this fight done, and quite convincingly.
“So I’m going to fight Belal and beat Belal. Belal has said many times that I am the toughest opponent in the division for him.
“Then, when Belal doesn’t have the belt, there’s a certain pound-for-pound No. 1 who wants to come up, and his name is Islam Makhachev.”
Makhachev is the UFC lightweight champion and current No. 1 pound-for-pound (P4P) fighter in the promotion.
He has defended the belt four times since defeating Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in 2022, and has previously teased a move up to welterweight to contend for two-division championship status.
Ahead of his win, Machado Garry said Makhachev would be ‘an absolute disaster’ at 170lbs, but was adamant that he would relish if given an opportunity against the Russian star.
“I have nothing but love and respect for that man and his style, and it would be an honour to share the Octagon with him,” he added.
“I would love to go out there and prove against him – in my first title defence – that I’m the P4P No. 1.
“I beat him, I take that status, I win my first title defence, and then Shavkat gets the rematch.
“And I’m going to go out there and dismantle that man. And prove that he never won that fight, and that’s my next three fight plan.
“That’s how I see it going and I don’t want that any other way.”
UFC pound-for-pound rankings
- Islam Makhachev
- Jon Jones
- Ilia Topuria
- Merab Dvalishvili
- Dricus Du Plessis
- Magomed Ankalaev
- Belal Muhammad
- Alex Pereira
- Alexander Volkanovski
- Alexander Pantoja
- Tom Aspinall
- Max Holloway
- Sean O’Malley
- Charles Oliveira
- Arman Tsarukyan
Machado Garry utilised his long range and wrestling to secure a unanimous decision win over Prates at UFC Kansas City.
He had full control of the fight heading into the final round, until his Brazilian opponent found himself on top after reversing a takedown and began landing some nasty ground and pound.
Machado Garry was put on red alert as the clock ticked on, but Prates failed to capitalise on his position and subsequently suffered his first UFC defeat as his 11-fight winning streak also ended.
“I was not hurt,” Garry said after the decision victory.
“I was conscious at every moment. I know how dangerous that man is. I have nothing but respect for what he and his team (The Fighting Nerds) do.”
Elsewhere on the card, Mingyang Zhang stopped Anthony Smith in the co-main event to end the former UFC light heavyweight title challenger’s career.
Smith announced his retirement after the bloody defeat, but asserted his proudness when speaking in his post-fight interview
“I’m just gonna be grateful it happened,” ‘Lionheart’ said. “I appreciate you guys.”
Smith suffered a unanimous decision defeat to current heavyweight champion Jon Jones back in March 2019 at UFC 235.
