Ian Garry Interview: Colby Is Deluded, And Usman Is A B**ch For Ducking Me!

In an exclusive interview with Spaceport Sweden, ‘The Future’ Ian Machado Garry spoke on his desire for a trilogy with Shavkhat, fighting his idol Jon Jones and why his respect for Kamaru Usman has diminished.

Here are the key stories from the interview:

• Trilogy with Shavkat will happen and I will DOMINATE at welterweight 
• Stats show I deserved to beat Shavkat and I will make him tap next time
• I’d swerve Jon Jones fight but am open to sparring him in training
• Kamaru Usman is a b**ch for turning me down – I lost respect for him
• Tom Aspinall would knock Jon Jones out – He’s too old now
• Colby Covington can stay living in his world of delusion
• Garry reveals Logan and Jake Paul admiration – They have golden touch 
• Ilia Topuria gets Garry’s vote for best MMA fighter of 2024
• Garry awards UFC’s biggest fall off of the year to Michael Chandler

Q: How are you feeling Two Weeks On from losing your unbeaten record to Shavkat? 

Ian Garry: ”I still feel the same way. I still feel like I didn’t lose. My soul does not feel like I’ve lost. I cannot walk out of that octagon and have the time to reflect on the performance that I had and be upset. Could I have done more? Absolutely. But I think 99.9 percent of fighters in their entire life, in every performance they say, could have said they could have done more. I’m very proud of how I fought. I’m very proud of what I did in that octagon. And I’m even more proud of who I did it against. That man [Shavkat) was the boogeyman to everyone. The scariest man in the welterweight division. 18 finishes. Everyone’s been finished. And I sat down and I told everyone, I’m not afraid of this man. I know I can go out there and beat him. And that fight against Shavkhat only proved to me that I’m absolutely, absolutely going to be the champion at one point in time.”

Q: Before the scorecards were read, did you feel you had done enough to earn the decision, or was there a round you wish you had back?

Ian Garry: ”Firstly, I said, just on the judges’ scorecards, I’ve watched that fight back, as you can imagine, many, many, many times since and I’ve still lost. Every, every time I fight, I seem to lose hours of sleep just thinking about what could I have done better? What could I have done more of? How could I have improved my performance? I guess that’s the competitor in me. I was stopping a takedown in the fourth round away from winning three rounds and beating Shavkat. That’s what I basically put myself into the mindset of. The first two rounds I’m not upset or annoyed by. I had 100 percent takedown defense in the first two rounds. I shut down everything he did and there was nothing really big on the feet that happened. So he edged it based on holding me against the cage. If anything I feel like that irritated him more and then rounds three four and five I feel like I was dominating until he got that one little takedown. Had I stopped that, I feel like I win the decision and I take his 0, so that’s where my mindset is in regards to that. I really, I take nothing but positivity away from it. I really use that as something that I can learn from and evolve from and grow and become the best Ian Machado Garry I possibly can be.”

Q: Everyone wants to see a rematch between you and Shavkat now. How soon do you want it and how soon do you think you’ll get it?

Ian Garry: ”How soon do I want it? Well, I think win or lose against Belal, I would love to fight Shavkat after that fight. I believe that fight was such a high level fight from both me and Shavkat that I feel like he will want to go out and prove more, and prove that he’s better. And I absolutely want to go out and prove that I’m better than him. And I feel like another five round fight, whether he’s the champion or whether he’s not, I want that fight and I want it next year.”

Q: You sound hungrier than ever. It’s rare to see a fighter’s stock rise off the back of a defeat, but I think it’s fair to say that yours has. How do you feel about it?

Ian Garry: ”Yeah, I definitely feel like it has. I definitely feel like the world has seen. The world gave Shavkat so much praise and awe about his record and everything that he is. And rightly so. I think if you’re 18 and 0 only have 18 finishes in the world you deserve that kind of energy to be had around your name when people mention your name go ‘f**k he’s good’. He deserves that  but I feel like in my career no one really gave me the respect I deserve. Against the names I’ve beaten against the way I’ve beaten them it was always something else that the people would cling on to. I feel like this fight solidified in people’s mind, love me or hate me, that I’m one of the best fighters in this division. Love me or hate me I’m going to be a champion, whether you like it or not. And I feel like that proves it to people. So I’ve always said this and I’ve said this when I was early on in my career and a lot of people were excited about me in the UFC and I said it when things went a bit sour.

”I’m not someone who necessarily pays attention to love or hate because if I allow my view or my personality to change when I’m loved by the public, then it will be changed when I’m hated or when I’m not liked. Or so for me, I focus on myself. I focus on my family, my team, the people I love, but it’s nice to get some recognition for the talent that I possess. And it’s nice for the entire world to see that I’m a problem for this division. To me, that fight against Shavkat was two and a half rounds each. He won one, he won two, I won three, I would call four a draw. And then I won five, but there was only one person in that fight who looked like he was going to finish the fight multiple times. I had a ninja choke on. I had a guillotine on. I had my rear naked choke on. These are all little things that I just need to just tweak.”

Q: In the lead up to the fight, a lot of people were saying if it goes down to the mat, Shavkat’s going to be dominant. But it didn’t work out that way and you got the better of him. So a lot of people were eating some humble pie weren’t they? 

Ian Garry: ”I’ve been telling people since the day I got in this sport that I am well rounded everywhere the fight goes. Have I shown in the UFC to the highest level that I could possibly do? No. Have I gone out and shown the world that I am absolutely capable of beating anybody anywhere? Absolutely. When you look at the statistics from the fight, Shavkat threw 102 strikes total, landed 65. I landed 102 out of 146. Every stat you look at, is in my favour. The only one that is not in my favour is control time, but control time to me meant nothing. When you look at that control time, other than, let’s call it two to three minutes that he had on top, maybe four, you can call it,  he spent seven minutes in a clinch trying to take me down that I won. That’s the only reason to clinch with someone is to try to take advantage of the clinch. We’ve seen Shavka have beautiful knees in that clinch, break away, he’d crack an elbow. He couldn’t have any of that. He couldn’t win any of that. Not only that, he couldn’t even manipulate me a tiny bit to try and take me down.  So a hundred percent takedown defense against a cage, against someone who’s so dangerous in the clinch. I beat him on the feet and I looked like the one who was more successful in the grappling. This is why I can only take that as a win in my mind. Against the’s the scariest man in the world to so many people. And I went out there and I did it with ease. Do you know what I mean? I did it with ease. When you look at the end of the fight and this is important for everyone watching. When you look at the end of the fight, who looks like they were broken? You watch Shavkat’s aura and energy. He was tired. He was broken and he was bollocksed. So I’m telling you now, five rounds again, 2025, I will beat Shavkat Rakhmanov. I was 100 percent confident I could win and beat him on December 7th. I’m even more confident now that whenever we face off again, I’m going to get my hand raised. I’m going to take his O, and if he has it, I will take his belt as well. But I have nothing but respect for the man. I have nothing but respect for his talent and his skill set. I just know I’m better.”

Q: I think a lot of people loved your shout out to Charles in Portuguese and English, that won a lot of people over. Are you feeling more love from fans now in general? 

Ian Garry: ”I feel like the fans are just seeing the true me. We’ve started making this vlog on YouTube, which is doing really well. If you haven’t seen it, go check it out. It’s just showing me and my personality more and the fans are seeing it and understanding it. That’s always what I’ve wanted from my Instagram and we’re in a world where social media matters. I’m in the entertainment business, right? I’m a fighter. I’m a competitor. But I’m in the entertainment business. We want people to tune in. We want people to watch. We want people to see and connect. When I think about my Instagram and what I’m doing, I want people to understand and connect to me as a human, as a fighter, as a father, as a husband, whatever it is. It’s why my family matters to me so much. I want people to see that I love my wife. I love my kids. I love my team. I love the way we travel and I want people to see that be inspired by it.”

Q: Has Dana spoken to you off the back of that fight, about your next fight or anything else?

Ian Garry: ”I have had no interaction with UFC since that fight. I came straight home and I’ve been getting my house ready for Christmas because I just bought a new home and it’s actually beautiful. So I’m happy. They called me (about fighting Shavkat) and they knew that I was game. I’m still game and I’m ready to go whenever they need me. So I have some things that I want to do, which is focus on some small little tweaks that will make my game, I believe the difference between me going out there and finishing everyone. So that’s what I want to focus on now and I’m going to let that be my main priority and my main focus. And once I feel like that has been ticked off, then I’m going to fight three times next year. And if that means I fight three times in six months, then that’s how it will be. Every year since I’ve been in the UFC, I fought three times every year. So if I don’t fight until international fight weeks next year, then you’re seeing me in June or July. You’re seeing me in September. You’re seeing me in December. If I don’t fight the first six months of the year, just because I want to focus on myself and grow and make minor adjustments. And then I’m 10 times the fighter I am. That’s my main focus, but I will fight three times next year and I will win the belt next year.”

Q: Colby did say he thought he was coming into the fight when it was stopped against Joaquin Buckley. 

Ian Garry: ”Let him live in his delusion.”

Q: Do you still see your path crossing at some point down the line, or is that history now? 

Ian Garry: ”I don’t have anything I want to say about that man.”

Q: You’ve got bigger fish to fry now off the back of that Shavkat match?

Ian Garry: ”I’ve got a world title to focus on. I’ve got a world title to focus on. I’ve got a legacy that I know is destined to be one of the greatest of all time. I’ve got that to focus on. And when you look at people like Shavkat, Belal, the guys at the top of the division. When you look at all these young up and coming prospects that are phenomenal and doing things in the division, the entirety of the landscape of the welterweight division is going to change over the next 6 to 18 months. I’m excited by that. It’s going to be fun. It’s going to be cool. And when I get that belt, there’s going to be a lot of amazing matchups that will excite the fans, so that’s my focus.”

Q: I don’t know if you saw, Conor McGregor tweeted that he’s in talks to fight Logan Paul in a boxing match in India, which is a bit of a plot twist. I’m not sure who saw that coming, but what do you reckon about that for him, boxing Logan Paul? 

Ian Garry: ”What the Paul brothers have done in the entertainment world is nothing short of incredible.  They’ve completely dominated. Whenever they’ve put on a show, love them or hate them – again – A lot of people love it. A lot of people hate it. It’s okay. At the end of the day, both of those men are doing amazing business. When you look at Logan and what he’s doing with Prime and how he’s growing that to be such an amazing brand. And then you look at what he’s doing in the WWE. Like these are phenomenal things to have in your life. They’re amazing. And then you look at everything, let alone the fact that he runs a ridiculously successful podcast and business upon business upon business.

”Then you look at his brother and you look at Jake and you see Jake has just done that unbelievable fight with Mike Tyson and put it on Netflix. He’s done a deal with Netflix. That’s incredible. He’s also backing up his words and beating people. Again, love him or hate him.

”He’s doing what he wants to do in life. And that’s that. I can only sit here and admire that there’s someone out there doing what he said he’s going to do and enjoying the process. Both of them are incredible businessmen. Logan and Jake, I believe anything they touch turns to gold. Let’s see if it actually happens (Logan Paul vs McGregor). Sometimes, the buildup and the rumors are just as important as it actually getting booked because it gets people excited. So if it gets booked, we’ll talk about it then, but until then it’s all speculation.”

Q: On your YouTube channel, you said that you’d go to middleweight and even light heavyweight to take the belts. And you also said that Jon Jones is your favorite active fighter. Could there ever conceivably be a day where you’d fight your hero Jon Bones Jones at light heavyweight for the title? 

Ian Garry: ”I’m 27, I’m making welterweight with absolute ease. It’s never a struggle, but I believe as I get older, it depends on when I want to fight. But 100% I would fight at middleweight. There’s no doubt about it. There’s no cross in my mind. I know I could, I know I would. But if I’m doing that, I would like to be a proper middleweight. Like I’m tall enough. I just need a little bit more size and then it’s that discussion of  if I was to fight at middleweight and be big enough that I have to cut to it, then I can just fight like heavyweight and be fresh you see what people are doing. They’re moving up. So I believe the biggest advantage I always have over people is speed and my fight IQ. So if my speed, my fight IQ and my reactions are as fast as they normally are at welterweight in middleweight. And you go out there and you can dominate middleweight. This is, this is years down the line. This is not right now. This is years down the line when I’m maturing as a man, then all I have to do is stand on a scale as fresh as a daisy, no water load, no nothing, just stand on a scale. 206, happy days, off you go and you go in and you’re fresh, ready to go and you go out there and you fight a light heavyweight. I’d do that, happily. We’ll see who and what challengers in the divisions and what the landscapes look at those points in time. But I wouldn’t say no to it. That’s for sure. I wouldn’t shut it down in any way, shape or form. If anything, I would enjoy the experience. The competition. I would enjoy the mindset I’ve got on, right?

”I’ve seen a friend of mine recently in the PI, right? Gregory Rodriguez. Do you know him? Robocop. Top 15 middleweight in the world. I don’t know exactly where his ranking is. Absolutely gigantic. And I’m like, I looked at myself and I went over to my team.  See he fights in Italy. And he is huge. He’s massive and he’s phenomenally talented. You know what I mean? That guy’s beat me up a couple times. He’s a world champion in jiu jitsu, black belt. He’s phenomenally talented. And I’ve been underneath and thinking, so this is what it feels like to be under a fridge. And, while I know I can absolutely win in middleweight and light heavyweight, for example.  I would want to put on the right size, the right weight, and go in there healthy. And would I want to fight Jon Jones? Jon Jones is one of the most gifted athletes we’ve ever seen in this sport. I believe his venom and the way he fights and the way he finds those gaps is special in this sport. He is someone I mould so much of my game from. And that is nothing but a compliment to him. When you’re that good that there is a fighter out there who’s also that good that is trying to mimic you in some way, shape or form, it’s pretty cool to see. So that’s a compliment to him. And I’m trying to be a little bit like him in the octagon. Would I like to fight him? Not necessarily, but would I be up for the test, in a spar or to train with him and to learn from him. Absolutely. Because I think it would be a really cool moment in my life to go, right, you’re the guy who I believe is the greatest of sports ever seen. What can I do? What can I do to you?

Q: It’s interesting because Dana White said that his job is to give the fans what they want. And what the fans want is Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall to get it on next year. But it doesn’t seem like Jon Jones wants it. I mean, he keeps saying it does nothing for his career. But if the fans want it, Dana has to make it happen, doesn’t he? But how? 

Ian Garry: ”Money talks. So if you offer Jon Jones enough money, then everything changes, right? That would be the biggest way to change it. Now, when I look at Jon Jones and his career, and when he sits there and says, Tom Aspinall does nothing for my career, I disagree, but I understand where he comes from. You’ve got this new up and comer, ruthless, ferocious, fast, powerful, well rounded, just completely levels above the rest of the division. And you’ve got this champion who is older, has this goat status, never been beaten. And he just took out the greatest heavyweight of all time with ease. So I understand what he means by that. I would argue, and I don’t think it’s an argument, I would say that Tom Aspinall and where Jon Jones is, this is the toughest fight of Jon Jones career, against Tom Aspinall. So you’re taking the toughest fight of your life, at your oldest age in the sport, actively against a young, hungry, up and coming competitor who wants to prove everything. To himself and to the world. I think it’s a very dangerous fight for Jon to take. I would understand why he wouldn’t want it. I would understand why he would look at someone like Alex Pereira and say this is what greatness looks like. So, I’m interested to see if it does happen. And if it happens, I unfortunately think Jon Jones loses. As much as I love him, and as much as I think he’s an incredible fighter, inside that octagon, if he steps in there with a  young, hungry bull like Tom Aspinall, I think he gets knocked out. I’ve said it already before this. I love Jon Jones and his style. I think he’s the GOAT. Inside the Octagon, he’s phenomenally talented. But age is undefeated. Time is undefeated. Time is undefeated. And if we, if we rewind this 10 years ago. Or five years ago, or whatever you want to call it, and you’ve got a prime Jon Jones stepping in there against a prime Tom Aspinall? Now it’s a debate. Now you’re really talking about Jones going out there and putting it on Tom Aspinall. But, that is not the reality of what we live in. It is right now and Jon is older and Tom is younger and you know, Tom Aspinall, this is an incredible fact to have, but Tom has the shortest active fight time in UFC history. There’s a reason for that. He runs through people. He hits like a truck. He’s gigantic. He’s talented. He’s fast. He hasn’t got many miles on the clock. Has he? Doesn’t need it. I would love to see the fight happen, that is Dana’s job to make fights like that happen, and if he can make that happen, then fair play, I look forward to it. There’ve been many fights we’ve wanted to see in this world and they’ve never happened in the UFC, and that’s not necessarily anyone’s fault, they’ve just never come to fruition.”

Q: Did you catch Kamaru Usman talking about you on the Henry Cejudo podcast? He was pulling out old DMs, which is a bit of a weird thing to do, isn’t it? And he’s saying you haven’t earned the right to fight him yet, but what’s your take on that? I know you’ve got a lot of respect for him, but maybe slightly tarnished after that?  

Ian Garry: ”I had a lot of respect for him, until he turned me down. That’s a fact. He turned the fight with me down and that’s it. I had a lot of respect for him.  I had a lot of respect for him and his career and everything that he did as the champion. And when I was a young kid watching the sport and I was an amateur and I’m watching him fight Gilbert Burns for the world title during COVID and I’m like ‘f**k, this guy’s one of the best we’ve seen’. That was the opinion the world had of him at that point. When that same guy turns down a fight against you, it changes the way you think about him. So I had respect for Kamaru, might be still a little bit, but not much after you turned me down, not much. And I don’t care what his excuses are. I don’t care what his excuses are. You put, you turn down the fight. In my mind, you’re a b***h.”  

Q: Have you enquired with the UFC about potentially headlining an event in Ireland. I think we might’ve spoken about it before and you said how excited you’d be to fight in Ireland. But can we make it happen? Usman and Ian Garry in Dublin? 

Ian Garry: ”Wouldn’t that be a dream? I’d do it. Listen, a return to the Emerald Isle for the UFC is inevitable in my mind. I’m leading the charge and I’ve been calling for it since day one since I got to the UFC. We need to return to Ireland. The UFC needs to come back to Dublin, Ireland. It needs to relight a flame for everyone that needs it. And anyone who doesn’t need it, just to get excited. I’m the guy to do it. I’m the guy who’s been doing it at the highest level. So I believe I will get that to happen at some point. I would love for it to happen this year. I don’t know. We’ll find out. But at the end of the day, whenever it happens. I will be the main event, I will put on a show, and I will be so happy that I can tick that little bucket list off if I am the guy who made the UFC come back to Dublin, Ireland and relight that flame. So it will be a great honour and a privilege for me to bring them back and I don’t care who it’s against or when it is.”

Q: Which fighter has had the best 2024 in your opinion? 

Ian Garry: ”Ilia Topuria has to be number one. You knock out two of the arguable goats in the history of the division. I think he’s had the best year. Him and Alex Pereira. That’s it.”

Q: Which fighter are you most looking forward to watching in 2025?

Ian Garry: ”You know who I love, so I’ll give you two. They’re both Brazilians. One of them is a teammate of mine, Marco Tulio. Absolutely sensational. Did you see Dana White’s contender series where he finished the fight with a spinning back-kick to the body? Savage. Fights at Middleweight. I’m telling you now, that guy’s a donk. I’ve sparred him. I’ve been there with him. It’s not a nice experience. He is going to do bits in the middleweight division. Another fighter I absolutely love, and I know you’ve seen this. (Mauricio) Ruffy, fights out of the fighting nerds. His style is sensational. He’s another one. Lightweight division is slow and his fluidity and fighting is just exceptional. So they’d be two people I’m excited to watch next year.”

Q: Which fighter has had the biggest fall off in 2024? 

Ian Garry: ”I guess you could say Michael Chandler, because he waited for so f**king long to fight Conor McGregor. It never came to fruition so he missed out on millions upon millions and then goes out there and gets beat by Charles Oliviera. And it’s like, f**k! And he’s such an entertainer. So it’s not that I’d say he’s the biggest fall off. I’d say it’s the most unfortunate. But he’s such an entertaining fighter and he has such amazing fights. I would argue that  since Chandler has got to the UFC, the six fights he’s had in the UFC have been some of the most entertaining fights in UFC history.  Charles and Chandler, one and two were both phenomenal fights. Chandler and Gaethje. The night I made my UFC debut. Unbelievable fight. Chandler and Dan Hooker. Cracker. Chandler and Poirier. Cracker. And then there was one more. Tony Ferguson. So yeah, six of the most entertaining fights in UFC history, so I feel like I wouldn’t give it a negative, I just think it’s the most unfortunate. Misses out on the millions upon millions upon millions in the massive fight with Conor, dangles out and fights one of the scariest guys in the division and gets beat and it’s like, f**k..”