RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Yahoo 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
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 19: Islam Makhachev of Russia holds an open training session for fans and media during the UFC 280 open workouts at Yas Mall on October 19, 2022 in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is returning to “The City of Brotherly Love” for the UFC 330: “Makhachev vs. Garry” mixed martial arts (MMA) event , which as the name suggests, is headlined by the welterweight title fight pitting champion Islam Makhachev against challenger Ian Machado Garry . The action takes place this Sat. night (Aug. 15, 2026) on Paramount+ from inside Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and also features a strawweight title fight between Mackenzie Dern and Gillian Robertson . Dern makes the first defense of her 115-pound strap after claiming the vacant crown last fall on the EyeGate undercard .
Let’s breakdown those two bangers along with the rest of the UFC 330 main card below:
170 lbs.: UFC Welterweight Champion Islam Makhachev (28-1) vs. Ian “The Future” Garry (17-1)
Islam Makhachev will face the biggest challenge of his career, literally, in the much larger Ian Garry. Despite being trained and mentored by former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, Makhachev is a more cerebral and in many ways more technical fighter, whereas “The Eagle” just steamrolled opponents before grinding them into dust. Makhachev’s fights against Alex Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier resulted in wins, but also revealed his limitations — something he was able to overcome with his size and strength. Those advantages will not be present against Garry, who unlike the bewildered Jack Della Maddalena, knows how to stuff takedowns and stay off the center line. I don’t know how the champion became such a sizable betting favorite when we’ve yet to see him deal with an opponent who can neutralize his best attributes.
“This guy (doesn’t) have some something special,” Makhachev told UFC.com . “He’s not a hard puncher. He’s not a good wrestler. He’s good fighter who have all skills. He (has) good striking, good wrestling, some maybe blue belt of jujitsu, but nothing special. And for me, it’s just different opponent who want to take my belt, and I do everything. I (am) working so hard (the) last couple of months to defend my belt. No matter who is in front of me, I just have to defend my belt because I’m the best fighter in the world. I want many, many more years (as) UFC champion. I have to be a good example for [my teammates] because Khabib was example for us. Now it’s my time, and I have to be the guy who gives them (the) right way.”
Ian Garry is not a finisher nor does he have an aggressive offense which makes him boring in the eyes of Just Bleed’rs, but his sound defense makes him a pleasure to watch if you value the art of fighting over sloppy bar brawls and one-punch knockouts. Garry absorbs an anemic 2.86 significant strikes per minute, far below the UFC average, and completely neutralized the offensive wrestling of former champion Belal Muhammad and top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. He also shut down the violent power of Carlos Prates and sidestepped the crafty striking of Michael Page, proving that he’s equally effective wherever the fight goes. I’m not sure where Makhachev has the edge outside of intangibles and even then, I can’t think of an area where the champion has a distinct advantage. Five round fights? Garry has mastered that, as well.
“I think Islam is a generationally special talent,” Garry told UFC.com . “I think the respect he has earned is because of the hard work in the Octagon and in the gym. His resume speaks for itself: the wins, the finishes, the high-level fights; he’s absolutely amazing when he gets into the Octagon. It’s my job to use him as my example to the world. If you all believe him to be the greatest fighter on the planet right now, he’s the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world in most people’s eyes, wait until I beat him because that energy has to transfer. Ian Machado Garry is great.”
This feels like a fight that is going to underwhelm in terms of action but also establish a ceiling for both fighters, win or lose. I think Garry is good enough on defense to repel any attack from the smaller Makhachev, frustrating the champion and forcing him to make mistakes. From there, “The Future” will be able to pick his shots from the outside and capture a competitive, but clear decision on all three scorecards.
And new.
Prediction: Garry def. Makhachev by unanimous decision
115 lbs.: UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Mackenzie Dern (16-5) vs. Gillian “The Savage” Robertson (17-8)
Mackenzie Dern is undisputed strawweight champion but it’s hard to overlook the fact that she competed for a belt that was vacated by Zhang Weili. It would probably help her cause if “Magnum” decided to stay at flyweight, sort of how Islam Makhachev committed to welterweight, but the vacationing Weili is coming back to the division after she’s done playing dress up on social media . Every title fight prior to that feels like a commercial for her inevitable return, perhaps unfairly, but Dern still has something to prove. Her jiu jitsu skills are beyond reproach, as she was (and in many cases still is) one of the best female submission fighters in the world. That only gets you so far in a sport that also includes face punching, a painful lesson Dern learned against Jessica Andrade back in late 2023. Fortunately for the faux-Brazilian and her T-Rex arms, punishing power punchers in the women’s strawweight division are few and far between.
“I’ve always been — and people who have seen my fights think it — an emotional fighter,” Dern told BBC Sport . “So I come out nice and technical but after two or three punches land, I would go into red mode and go forward. Basically the whole strategy goes out the window. In poker you need to be able to control your emotions. There’s times I’d have a pair of ac...
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.