Ian Garry is enjoying his time in Sao Paulo after securing his seventh straight victory under the UFC banner and 14th overall in February.
The Future’ once again lived up to his moniker, scoring a split decision victory over welterweight staple Geoff Neal at UFC 298. As a result, Garry slid into the No. 7 spot in the 170-pound rankings — three spots behind his next target, Colby Covington.
Speaking with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Garry made it clear that a clash with ‘Chaos’ is on the agenda for UFC 303 when the promotion returns to Las Vegas on June 29.
“Look, if Colby wants to fight in his back garden tomorrow, I will fly to Miami and fight him in his back garden,” Garry said. “I don’t care when it is. I just want him as the opponent. I want him to be a man and step into the Octagon and face his fears. Face the man who he’s talked a lot of sh*t about, and watch what happens when you get in there. God will be good. He will give me Colby Covington whenever, wherever I want him, and he will say, ‘Ian, have fun.’”
Covington last competed in December, coming up short against reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296. Since then, the three-time title challenger has been relentlessly targeting Ian Garry and his wife, Layla Machado Garry, in a series of NSFW videos and social media posts.
“I want to fight him because of the following he has, the respect on his name as one of the better fighters in this division and has been for a long time,” Garry said. “I want to fight him because of all the sh*t that he has talked about me and my family, and I’m going to make sure that he regrets every word he’s said.
“But I also know that even if it was the best Colby Covington we ever seen, he would never stand a chance against me. No matter how good Colby Covington ever could be or would be, he would never be able to beat me. I’m too elite. I’m too fast. I’m too technically brilliant. He just doesn’t stand a chance. I don’t think the guy deserves any respect in the world, to be honest with you. The sh*t he talks … I’ll step into that Octagon, and I’ll retire him. That’s my goal. My whole goal to when I fight Colby Covington is that he never puts on MMA gloves ever again.”
Ian Garry Determined to retire Colby Covington in Potential Octagon clash
Now training at Chute Boxe in São Paulo, Ian Garry would love the chance to fight in the Land of the Holy Cross, but he simply can’t see Colby Covington accepting the invite, particularly after ‘Chaos’ made an enemy of the entire country during his clash with Demian Maia in 2017.
“I don’t think Colby Covington wants to come back to Rio after all the sh*t he said last time he was in Brazil versus Demian [Maia],” said Garry, referring to when Covington defeated Maia in Brazil and then slammed the country during his post-fight speech. “I think he’ll stay away. I think he’d end up dead.
“That’s the truth, I think he’d end up dead. I think there’s no way that happens, because Colby is too much of a b*tch. But I will fight in Brazil one day, and I will be so happy to put on the yellow shorts and be the main event in Brazil, and I’ll carry the Irish flag on one shoulder and the Brazilian flag on the other.”
With Garry and Covington trading barbs since late last year, everything is seemingly teed up for the UFC to take advantage of the intense situation and book the welterweight grudge match for later this year. Whether or not that actually happens remains to be seen. But if given the opportunity, ‘The Future’ has every intention of retiring Colby Covington emphatically.
“You don’t deserve to be here,” Garry said. “You don’t deserve to be at the top of the division anymore. I’m going to retire you. All of Brazil is going to have a smile on their face when I knock you unconscious and leave you in a puddle of your own blood, face down on the canvas. Colby, you’re done. Fala tchau. [Say bye.]”