Undefeated welterweight prospect Ian Machado Garry is a bona fide superstar who singlehandedly saved the UFC 292 pay-per-view (PPV) card, previously doomed to fail with a lame-duck main event between bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and top 135-pound contender Sean O’Malley.
Those are Garry’s words, not mine.
Defeating longtime welterweight veteran Neil Magny will prove to the Doubting Thomases that Garry is both “legit” and “active,” not unlike current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, who returns to action against Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in just a few weeks.
“I wanna fight again in December in Vegas,” Garry told The Schmo. “I wanna take over Vegas, the T-Mobile Arena one more time before the year is out. Fight four times this year, fight three ranked opponents. And I want to prove that I am just legit, I am here, I am active. I’m the new era of fighting. If you look at someone like Israel Adesanya, he’s fighting as much as he can, as constant as he can. And I believe I’m going to be doing the exact same thing: rinse, repeat. Every time, we go again, we go again, we go again, and I’m just gonna keep getting my hand raised.”
Garry (12-0) is hoping to fight two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson when the promotion stages its year-end PPV card this December in Las Vegas, according to his conversation with FOX Sports Australia, and “The Future” will prepare for that contest by training alongside “The Last Stylebender.”
“I’ve spoken to [Adesanya], and talked to [head coach] Eugene Bareman,” Garry said. “Adesanya is absolutely someone I want to learn from. I’d love to sit and have conversations with him because he’s so intelligent, has so much striking knowledge that I can absorb, learn from and grow from. So I’m really excited to make that trip across the pond and train with him. He’s one of the best fighters I’ve ever watched.”
None of that matters without a victory at UFC 292 this weekend in Boston.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 292 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 292: “Sterling vs. O’Malley” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 292 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.