Ian Machado Garry is too nice.
That was the takeaway some had following UFC 330, where Islam Makhachev successfully defended his title against Garry, winning via unanimous decision, as the challenger didn’t show the urgency expected in his first welterweight championship shot.
Among those who expected more: UFC president Dana White, who spoke about the encounter at his usual post-card press conference.
“I think that this is my honest opinion on it; I felt like tonight was set up for the upset,” White said at the UFC 330 post-fight interview. “I felt like the upset could happen tonight with so much on the line, all the records that Islam has, and he’s going to break Anderson Silva’s record. There’s weight classes for a reason. Ian Gary is a big, rangy, strong guy who has great takedown defense. I mean, if you look at his takedown defense tonight against Islam, it was impressive.
White added, “I think that Ian is a talented guy. If he had even an ounce of killer instinct in that fifth round, he had been beating him to the body. Islam’s whole, I think, right side was beat up. His face was beat up. You don’t come out and hug and shake hands. That s–t drives me f–king crazy when there’s so much at stake.”
Makhachev himself lent voice to this following the victory, in which he led 49-46 on two scorecards and 48-47 on the third.
“Honestly, I don’t understand,” Makhachev said about Garry. “This is a fight. This is not something we have to hug each other every round. We’re going to war. We’re going to break the face, to break the eye. I respect all my opponents. But [maybe he’s young]. He respects too much.”
Makhachev added that he still thinks highly of Garry, but ultimately echoed White’s sentiment.
“I respect him. He’s a good guy. Very kind. But this is a war,” the champion said. “Look at my face. I just come to beat everything. It’s not something you have to play. This is a fight. This is not a game.”
White later said in his presser that he wishes he could replay at least the final round of the bout.
“There’s also a lot of mental gamesmanship, whatever you want to call it, in this game,” said White. “You come out in that fifth round with a flying knee or something crazy, and you try to finish the fight. I think that this is one of those fights that Ian will go back and watch and say, ‘F–k, I wish I could do that over again.’”
With the win, Makhachev, 34, broke Silva’s record for the longest-winning streak in UFC history with 17.
The win improved Makhachev’s record to 29-1, with his only loss coming in his second UFC appearance back in October of 2015, where he was knocked out by MMA journeyman Adriano Martins.
Garry, 28, dropped to 17-2, with losses in two of his last four bouts.
