Ian Garry has no hesitation in accepting that he’s a huge fan of Conor McGregor. Coming from Dublin, Ireland, Garry idolized McGregor as a teenager and followed in his footsteps. However, his obsession with McGregor has now backfired. Furthermore, that doesn’t seem to bother the ‘Future’ as he believes that he and McGregor are like Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.
Ahead of his upcoming fight with Michael ‘Venom’ Page at UFC 303, Garry was called a BBL version of Conor McGregor by the former Bellator superstar. During the pre-fight presser, Garry addressed the accusations and revealed that he doesn’t mind getting inspired by McGregor. Garry gave an example of Kobe Bryant getting criticism for copying Michael Jordan and the ‘mamba’ went on to create his own legacy.
I take that as a compliment. He(McGregor ) is the greatest star the sport has ever seen. I don’t wanna be like him. Have I been inspired by him? Absolutely. How many people talked about Kobe Bryant trying to be like Michael Jordan? Kobe Bryant went out and made a legacy of his own in his own way but having similar traits and styles to Jordan.
Ian Garry via UFC 303 pre-fight presser
Garry then went into detail about his relationship with Conor McGregor and how the Irish superstar motivated him to achieve greatness. Similarly to Garry, Kobe Bryant has always credited the legendary Michael Jordan for his achievements. Bryant has mentioned several times how he learned a lot from Jordan and there were various similarities between both the greats of basketball.
According to Garry, he still has to prove a lot and try hard to step up to everyone’s expectations and become the next global superstar from Ireland. Garry’s dedication to McGregor was also evident when he defended the ‘Notorious’ for pulling out of UFC 303. On the other hand, Garry is now excited to win against Michael Page and get his hands on the welterweight title as soon as possible.
Ian Garry doesn’t think a win against Michael ‘Venom’ Page gives him the welterweight title shot
Ian Garry’s only purpose for fighting Michael Page at UFC 303 was to be on the same event as McGregor, but his plan didn’t work out. However, this does not imply that the fighter does not take the bout seriously. Garry has issued several strong warnings to the page. However, the fighter does not believe that victory versus MVP will aid him in any way with his title campaign.
Ian Garry doesn’t he deserve a welterweight title shot after beating Michael Page (via Imago /TNT Sports)During a recent interview with Sky Sports, the Irish fighter talked about having no benefits from potentially defeating Michael Page. According to the fighter, he wants to earn a fair title shot with no questions from his critics.
I don’t think a win over MVP warrents who deserves a title shot…If I was UFC brass then I wouldn’t be giving me a title shot. I want to earn and deserve a title shot. I want no question marks on my career. I really believe that need to take out one to two guys in the top five.
Ian Garry via Sky Sports
Ahead of the fight, the rivalry between MVP and Garry is very fierce. Both fighters have publicly dissed each other and this has raised a lot of attention for the clash. With experts like Alexander Volkanovski advising Garry to use his jiu-jitsu against MVP, it would be interesting to see what the fighter has in his sleeves.
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