Irish fighter Ian Garry claims he’s here to take over the welterweight division, so he’s not short on confidence ahead of his second UFC fight. He’ll take on Darian Weeks this weekend at UFC 273, and Ian Garry told The MMA Hour that he’s not expecting much from his opponent.
“I hadn’t heard of him. The name got sent across, I said yes, that’s the way it is. I had a quick glance at his fight against [Bryan] Barbarena — he’s alright. He’s nothing special, but he’s in the UFC and every fighter that’s in the UFC should be respected for whatever their skill set may be, because they can all potentially win.
Ian Garry: Next Opponent Darian Weeks is “nothing special”
He’s gonna end up fighting me, which is his ticket to stardom, is what he thinks — but, as I’ve done many times, I’m gonna go in there and win. I’m gonna find a way to win like I always do.”
Garry’s stated goal – as he echoed another famous Irishman’s mic skills in Madison Square Garden – is not to take part, but to take over. He’s patient, however, and is willing to put in the hard yards to get to where he wants to be. Garry is promising another two fights in 2022 to follow this one.
“There’s no rush. My main concern, my main goal, is to grow. To become a better fighter, to become a better martial artist, to become a better athlete in every single way I can. Diet, nutrition, strength and conditioning, and technical ability. So for me, it’s working with the team that I’ve surrounded myself, to get better and grow and grow and grow.
By the end of this year, I’ll be 4-0 in the UFC, I will have fought three times in 2022, and I’ll be 11-0, and I’ll prove to everybody why I said I’m ‘The Future.’”
One way to get better is to spar with the best, and Garry has been training with Kamaru Usman, reigning welterweight champ and world number one pound for pound fighter. “I was kind of shocked because of his size.
He’s not anywhere near as big as he looks on TV, because he looks jacked when he’s on the camera. But I was speaking to the guys, and they were saying he’s not the best striker, he’s not the best wrestler, he’s not the best at jiu-jitsu, but he’s the best at mixing it up.
And they were saying, ‘He’ll get beat up in wrestling, he’ll get beat up in grappling, he’ll get beat up in kickboxing, but when it comes to MMA, he’s the best.’ And we’ve seen that in his fights.
I think he’s on a 15-fight win streak in the UFC, which is insane. It was obviously a pleasure to share the cage. He was explaining a couple things I can do better.” Is this going to be another dramatic showing for Ian Garry? Let us know in the comments.
