Islam Makhachev seemingly expects to be chasing Ian Machado Garry inside the cage.
The pair were recently announced as the two headliners for UFC 330 on August 15, as the promotion finally returns to Philadelphia for an event at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Garry will challenge Makhachev in what will be the Dagestani’s first defense of the welterweight title, which he won by dominating Jack Della Maddalena last November.
The Irishman has impressed since joining the UFC in 2021, but the reigning champion sees a fighter who simply “runs away” inside the Octagon.
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Islam Makhachev says unentertaining Ian Machado Garry ‘runs away’ in his UFC fights
Garry faced competition from Michael Morales and Carlos Prates when it came to securing the spot opposite Makhachev this summer.
It appears that Garry’s victory over Prates, who has won all of his other UFC fights and brutally knocked out Della Maddalena last time out, gave him the edge.
That result has aged well for ‘The Future’, who followed up the victory over Prates by defeating former champion Belal Muhammad.
But while many have been impressed with Garry, even in his close loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Makhachev gave a less-than-positive assessment of the Dublin native before their fight was made official.
“Style-wise, he’s a tricky fighter. He constantly runs away,” Makhachev told Red Corner MMA.
“I wouldn’t call him an entertaining fighter. Morales, for example, he can wrestle, he goes forward.
“But ‘going forward’ has nothing to do with Ian Garry.
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Garry will no doubt be a significant underdog when he shares the cage with Makhachev, whose victory over Della Maddalena seven months ago saw him crowned the eleventh two-division champ in UFC history.
But the Irish star has never been short on self-belief and reacted to Dana White announcing his title shot with a confident message online.
“And new,” Garry wrote.