Ireland’s freshest UFC prospect is no stranger to comparisons to Conor McGregor. In fact, he welcomes them. Ian Garry’s first-round knockout victory upon his UFC debut at UFC 268 this past weekend was no surprise, but Garry was thrilled to hear from the champ champ himself how he’d motivated the UFC’s biggest star.
Garry told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour that he welcomes Conor McGregor into “the takeover part two”, of which Garry believes he’s at the forefront.
Ian Garry Promises “Ireland Will Explode” if he and McGregor Share a Fight Card
“We were listening and I’m laughing, there’s a big smile on my face. And it was just the fact that, even in that, I could feel that Conor felt motivated by what I had just said.
He was saying, like, ‘I respect that so much,’ in a sense of like, ‘In my hardest time, I’m coming back from an injury, this has given me motivation.’ And he was like, ‘I’m part of that [Irish] takeover too.’ I’m like, ‘Hey, let’s get on it, Conor. Let’s get on it.’ Ireland will explode if you put me and him on a card together. So I’m in.
At the end of the day, he’s the biggest star in the sport, and if he wants to join this takeover, we can do it again. We’ll do it together.”
Garry grew up idolizing McGregor as a teenager in Dublin. He descended upon New York city buoyed by plenty of hype, an undefeated fighter with a penchant for early knockouts. When Ian Garry’s right hand shut his opponent’s lights out in the first round, many were reminded of McGregor’s own UFC debut.
“I just soaked in the moment. I didn’t want to leave that cage not having kind of walked around and looked out at the crowd and enjoyed every single second it, because it is going to be a special moment that we look back on in a couple years. It is something that I’m never going to forget. It’s the proudest moment of my fighting career in the sense of, ‘I’ve just won my UFC debut by knockout in the first round in the most iconic sports venue on the planet. I just want to enjoy this.’
It was just beautiful and the support has been amazing, the hype has been brilliant, and it’s all just falling into place. I’ve told you, this is a destiny. It’s written. I’ve just got to show up and do it. And it’s just, for me, it’s just enjoyable. I’ve just got to do it all over again now.”
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