Ian Garry dripping confidence that he will earn welterweight title at UFC 330: 'I've seen it in my dreams'
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- Ian Machado Garry (17-1), a 28-year-old Irish fighter and the UFC's No. 1-ranked welterweight, challenges two-division champion Islam Makhachev (28-1) in Saturday's UFC 330 main event at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, with Makhachev pursuing a victory that would surpass Anderson Silva's UFC record for consecutive wins at 17.
- Machado Garry is more than a 3-to-1 betting underdog despite his ranking, and responded to questions about defending Makhachev's takedowns by reframing them: 'You can't wrestle me if you can't catch me and hold me down. He has to get there in the first place.'
- Makhachev captured the welterweight title from Jack Della Maddalena last November using just four successful takedowns over five rounds, accumulating 19 minutes of ground control — 76% of the 25-minute bout — a blueprint Machado Garry says he has specifically trained to disrupt under Demian Maia at Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil.
- Machado Garry's lone career loss came against undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov in 2024, after which he credited training with Gilbert Burns at Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach, Florida for steering him toward Maia's grappling tutelage.
- Makhachev dismissed any notion that recent camp improvements will translate, telling CBS Sports: 'He has never met someone like me. He never found someone like me in Brazil, also. It's going to be a tough fight for him and he's going to meet the best fighter in the world.'
- Machado Garry's self-belief runs deeper than fight-night bravado — he told reporters he views himself as 'one of the greatest fighters on the planet already, right here and right now before I step foot in that Octagon on Saturday night,' a conviction reinforced by his 3-year-old son Leo attending every media stop this week.
- Makhachev is riding a 17-fight UFC winning streak heading into Saturday, putting Silva's all-time consecutive victories record directly within reach.
Why it matters: A victory for Machado Garry would instantly elevate a 28-year-old who has never faced an opponent of Makhachev's caliber into the welterweight throne and pound-for-pound conversation, while a Makhachev win delivers the all-time consecutive victory record — a historical benchmark for a champion already being discussed among the sport's top 10 fighters ever.
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