Ian Machado Garry’s title aspirations have been put on hold, temporarily at least, after his close decision loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov at last weekend’s UFC 310 in Las Vegas.
The Irishman was outpointed 48-47 by the still-unbeaten Kazakh inside the T-Mobile Arena, despite Garry being the closest of the two to securing a finish with a late rear-naked choke that appeared for a moment at least to have Rakhmonov in serious jeopardy of sustaining the first defeat of his career.
But while the victor will challenge Belal Muhammad next year for the undisputed UFC welterweight title, Garry has positioned himself as a top contender at 170-pounds. His next bout is sure to come against one of the division’s top names, with the likes of Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman mooted.
But former champion Usman isn’t quite buying the Irishman’s billing in the welterweight division just yet.
“Does he even deserve [a fight with me]?” Usman said on his Pound4Pound podcast, as noted by MMA Fighting. “This is what I’m going to say is leading up to this fight there was a lot being said, he made a lot of things ‘everyone’s running from me!’ I don’t run from anybody. No one. I run from no one.
“I don’t know too many guys who are going to run from anyone because this is the game. We fight to make money. If we don’t fight, we don’t get paid. Anyone in the UFC has to step in there in order to get paid. The notion of ‘they were scared of me, they were running.’ Who are you? Who are you that I of all people are scared of you. Who are you?”
That said, Usman — who has lost the last three fights of his career to Leon Edwards (twice) and Khamzat Chimaev — says that he will strap on his gloves and fight whomever the UFC decrees.
“Like I said, the biggest thing for me I just need to get healthy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter who it is. Once I’m healthy and I feel that I’m healthy to get back in there and do what I do, I don’t care. You could bring King Kong and King Kong’s brothers, if they can make 170, we get it on. So it is what it is.”
