He may not have got the result he wanted at this past weekend’s pay-per-view, but that hasn’t stopped UFC welterweight contender Ian Garry from taking a victory lap of sorts.
Garry had his record blemished for the first time in his professional career at UFC 310, an event he co-headlined opposite a former training partner and fellow rising star at 170 pounds in Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Their contest, which came about after the withdrawal of champion Belal Muhammad from his scheduled defense against “Nomad” due to injury, went the distance inside Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, with the Kazakh emerging with his undefeated résumé intact.
Despite having his hopes to challenge for “Remember the Name’s” gold next year dented by Rakhmonov, however, Garry appears more enthusiastic and confident about his chances of reaching the top than ever before.
During an appearance on Monday’s episode of The Ariel Helwani Show on Uncrowned, Garry reflected on his losing performance in “Sin City,” highlighting the difficult circumstances that his first title eliminator in the UFC came in.
Ultimately, aside from having his hand raised, Garry seemingly doesn’t think the night could have gone much better in terms of proving that his self-belief when it comes to beating everyone in his path on MMA’s biggest stage is well placed.
“I went in there on short notice against the scariest man in the division and I made him human,” Garry said. “I proved to the world how talented I am against a guy who they thought was unbeatable. … There’s no argument in my mind that when that fight finished, you can’t sit there and say anything else other than I am the scarier fighter.
“He didn’t beat me anywhere,” Garry continued. “Significant strikes, I won. The grappling exchanges, I was winning; I was defending and shooting down everything he was doing. The gameplan and everything that I had come up (with) and told my team I wanted to do, it worked. It’s a matter of seconds and four to five extra shots, and you’re talking about five rounds in my favor.”
With those comments in mind, the Irishman will evidently be entering 2025 with even more confidence and expectation for himself. First things first, Garry must return to winning ways, and from there, perhaps another chance to secure an opening shot at gold in his UFC career will await.
For the time being, though, focus will be on the UFC 310 co-main event winner as Rakhmonov pursues a second official booking opposite Muhammad in the new year.