UFC 310 previously carried the welterweight championship as its headline match. But an unfortunate toe injury forced champion Belal Muhammad to pull out of the event, leaving his adversary Shavkat Rakhmonov without an opponent. Enter Ian Garry Machado, who accepted to face the tough challenge while Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman rejected the offer.
It appears the Irish mixed martial artist isn’t concerned about the arduous challenge that lies ahead. Ian Garry, in his interview with Ariel Helwani, revealed his aspirations to fight twice within a week. The 30-year-old fighter has a long-standing feud with Covington, who allegedly refused to face him. Now, with the two men fighting just a week apart, Garry wishes to hijack the UFC Tampa card to face Covington.
I go out there on December 7th, and I take out Shavkat early. I come out of there unscathed and uninjured. I get on the mic; I sit down and say, ‘Hey, I can wait until next year when Belal Muhaamad’s back or Dana,Hunter, UFC. I can walk my a*s off all the way down to Florida and I can beat the bollocks out of Colby Covington for 25 mins…I would love to beat Shavkat and the following week fight as the main-event in Tampa and bury Colby Covington, leave him dead and done in that Octagon.
Ian Garry via The Ariel Helwani Show
Ian Garry is walking into the biggest fight of his career as a clear underdog. Even legendary MMA coach Firas Zahabi dismissed Garry’s chances to stage an upset. Zahabi believes ‘Nomad’ will exert relentless pressure, coupled with the ability to absorb punishment, which would prove to be too much. On top of that, a clear grappling disparity would further tilt the tide in Rakhmonov’s favor.
😳Ian Garry plans to finish Shavkat Rakhmonov quickly at #UFC310 and fight Colby Covington just a week later at #UFCTampa
“I would love to beat Shavkat, and the following week… bury Colby Covington and leave him dead and done.”
🎥 @arielhelwani ▫️ pic.twitter.com/YegTWhb9g2
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) December 2, 2024
Garry is stepping into his 9th UFC outing and is looking to secure a statement win. The Irish fighter believes a quick turnaround after UFC 310 could be the only way to fight arch-nemesis Covington. A victory at UFC 310 would make it unlikely to ever book a fight with the MAGA fighter. He also threw shade at the American fighter for always engaging in a war of words for attention.
Ian Garry rips Colby Covington for hogging attention with unprovoked trash talk
Ranked number 7 on the roster, Garry could become the next title contender for the 170 lbs strap after UFC 310. Speaking with Helwani, the UFC star pointed out Covington’s odd behavior of always engaging in trash talk for attention. Now, after months of back and forth, the Irish mixed martial artist finally seems to put together reasons behind this behavior.
Ian Garry takes a dig at Colby Covington for not backing up his trash talk (Image via Open Source)Garry believes Covington’s star power is at an all-time low after missing out on three chances to win the world title. Now with the rise of the next generation of fighters like Rakhmonov, Sean Brady, and more coming up the ranks, Covington feels lost in the shuffle. This is why the former title challenger is using trash talk to remain relevant in the division.
I understand the type of person Colby Covington is. He is someone who is trying to stay relevant by calling out the people that generating traction, myself, Shavkat, Belal Muhammad even Charles, at one point he said he wanted to fight Charles. These are all to keep relevancy to his name because his stock is plummeting so low because no one cares about him.
Ian Garry via The Ariel Helwani Show
Covington is slated to fight the number 9th ranked contender, Jaquin Buckley. ‘Chaos’ has lost 3 out of his last 5 fights, while Buckley is riding on a 5-fight win streak. Garry has been quite vocal about his support for Buckley. Meanwhile, the aging Covington has been quite inactive in the past few years, and a loss at UFC Tampa could compel him to call it a career.
