RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from CBS Sports — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 4 sources
PHILADELPHIA -- For all of the technical skill that Ian Machado Garry , the UFC's No. 1-ranked welterweight, brings into Saturday's UFC 330 main event, it's his impenetrable level of self confidence that might be the biggest threat overall to pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev's 170-pound title.
Machado Garry (17-1), a 28-year-old native of Ireland, retained a visceral level of peace and calm at Wednesday's media day despite the fact that he's more than a 3-to-1 betting underdog against one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport. But, then again, the brash fighter who gave himself the nickname of "The Future" during his amateur days and famously tattooed the phrase "The Future is Inevitable" across his chest, has always walked to the beat of his own drum.
As polarizing a fighter as there is in all of UFC today from the standpoint of fan reaction, Machado Garry doesn't just believe with every fiber of his being that he's days away from becoming welterweight champion, he believes something akin to the idea that he's an actor in a film where the ending -- spoiler alert -- has already been determined in his favor.
"It's not that I think it, I've been shown it," Machado Garry told CBS Sports. "I've seen it in my dreams and I've seen it in my mind. I can control the controllables and do what I need to do to be the best version of me but my path was paved before I came into this earth. I'm simply just walking the line of destiny.
"When I beat Islam Makhachev on Saturday night, it is undeniable that Ian Machado Garry is one of the greatest fighters of all-time."
Machado Garry isn't just facing the world's best fighter when he touches gloves with the Makhachev (28-1) inside of Xfinity Mobile Arena, he's facing the possibility of becoming a historical footnote of the wrong kind as the 34-year-old native of Dagestan, Russia, attempts to best Anderson Silva 's vaunted UFC record for consecutive victories at 17.
A true student of the game who has traveled the globe to sharpen his craft from gym to gym, eventually settling in recent years at the famed Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil, under the tutelage of former two-time UFC title challenger Demian Maia , Machado Garry has full respect for everything Makhachev has accomplished and is under no illusion as to how difficult this matchup is expected to be on paper.
"I think absolutely [Makhachev] has earned to be in the top 10 [of best UFC fighters in history]," Machado Garry said. "Lists are based on opinion but I think his resume, his longevity and his success in the sport absolutely warrants him to be in the top 10. Yes, he's absolutely one of the greatest fighters that I have ever seen in this sport."
Yet, through all of his lessons learned in the UFC, which included fighting the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov on relatively even terms in his lone career defeat in 2024 and following that up by surviving the knockout power of division upstart Carlos Prates in a 2025 decision win, Machado Garry truly believes that he can't be broken inside the Octagon.
THE HEAD KICK 👀 @iangarryMMA delivered a kick to remember! [ #UFC330 | LIVE SAT AUG 15 | 9pmET on @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/OQjPDRG2T4
"Never. And if you want to go deep on this -- and the truth is, most people watching this don't have the emotional intelligence to understand this -- but what's there to lose?" Machado Garry said. "I am one of the greatest fighters on the planet already, right here and right now before I step foot in that Octagon on Saturday night. That's not going to change -- win, lose, win by knockout or get knocked out. That doesn't change.
"What matters to me more than anything is the man I am, the person I am. The way I carry myself and the way the fans see me acting. I give them my time. I give my friends and my family all the time they deserve because they are far more important than this short, selfish, professional journey that I'm on. There is nothing to lose but everything to gain."
Pick your fights for UFC 330 ! Sign up for our UFC Pick'em Game on the CBS Sports App. Join the challenge and compete to win $5,000! Picks close Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
Machado Garry went to reference a lyric from one of his favorite songs that has become a bit of a mantra for him: "The journey is the treasure and if I'm not moving, I'm losing." It's part of the reason why he has so regularly leapfrogged from gym to gym, not just to improve his skillset as a fighter but to experience as many cultures as possible in order to evolve himself as a human.
But it was a conversation with former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns during their time together at Kill Cliff FC in Deerfield Beach, Florida, that led Machado Garry to seek out time in Brazil. And the work he put in with Maia has aggressively improved his ground skills, which were on full display last November in a key victory over Belal Muhammad where Machado Garry stuffed every single takedown attempt by the former 170-pound champion.
"Since the day I met Demian Maia, it has been one focus and one focus only," Machado Garry said. "The more I train with him, the more free I can be in striking knowing that I can handle anyone else in the world on the ground."
Machado Garry's ground skills will almost certainly be put to the test against Makhachev's savant wrestling skills. Last November, when Makhachev captured the welterweight title from Jack Della Maddalena to become a two-division champion, he needed just four successful takedowns over five rounds to accumulate 19 minutes of ground control, which amounted to 76% of the 25-minute bout.
But when asked how confident he is in his takedown defense to avoid a similar outcome as what happened to JDM, Machado Garry took offense to the question.
"I think the wording of the question is a bit of favor towards [Makhachev]," Machado Garry said. "I think it's a case of how can he get close to me? You can't grab something that you can't touch. You can...
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.