Ian Machado Garry is looking forward to Islam Makhachev trying to check his grappling.
Jon Jones is backing Makhachev to successfully defend his welterweight title next month due to his wrestling pedigree.
The champion’s dominant grappling is sure to be the reason that many others agree with ‘Bones’ when predicting that his win streak will continue.
However, Machado Garry believes that he’s Makhachev’s most dangerous threat, and that’s not just because of his striking skillset.
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Ian Machado Garry suggests he’ll beat Islam Makhachev in their UFC 330 grappling exchanges
Ian Machado Garry has said he doesn’t want to finish Islam Makhachev early because it would allow people to detract from his win.
While the Irishman certainly poses some threats to the welterweight champion, the big question is whether he can keep the fight standing.
This is sure to be Machado Garry’s approach but he’s also looking forward to making a statement when he does lock up with the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
“I think he has no choice. That’s my decision [to keep the fight standing],” he told Irish-Boxing.com, as reposted by Red Corner MMA. “My movement will force him to make decisions. He’s gonna inevitably grab my leg – there’s no doubt that’s gonna happen. And I can’t wait for it to happen because I’m gonna beat him where he’s best, too.”
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Through 11 UFC fights, Machado Garry has recorded a takedown defense success rate of 80%.
He was taken down twice by Shavkat Rakhmonov in ten attempts and defended all seven of Belal Muhammad’s.
Last month, Machado Garry unfollowed a former sparring partner after clips of their training session, where he was taken down, were reposted on social media.
Alexei Pergande later clarified that this happened years ago when releasing the full unedited footage of the session to try and disprove claims that he filmed it without permission.