‘MVP’ knows that Ian Machado Garry is a hard man to put away inside the Octagon.
The latest fighter looking to achieve that feat is Islam Makhachev, the reigning UFC welterweight titleholder and eleventh multi-weight champion in the promotion’s history.
Makhachev will defend against Garry in the main event of UFC 330 on Saturday night, with the pair closing out the action inside Philadelphia’s Xfinity Arena.
Michael ‘Venom’ Page has shared the cage with the Irishman for three full rounds, but he did not see enough to believe that Garry has a chance of dethroning the welterweight king.
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Ian Machado Garry gets a ton of hate, but he’s still feeling the love ahead of UFC 330.
Michael ‘Venom’ Page expects ex-rival Ian Machado Garry to lose comfortably at UFC 330
The former Bellator title challenger had a relatively short-notice clash with Garry at UFC 303 in the summer of 2024.
Page, renowned for his unique striking, came close to handing ‘The Future’ what would have been his first loss in professional MMA at the time.
Garry beat Page via unanimous decision after earning three 29-28 scorecards, but 42 percent of fans on MMA Decisions think the Englishman deserved the nod.
With that bout in mind, ‘MVP’ is well placed to assess Garry’s chances of pulling off an upset at UFC 330. While he respectfully described his ex-rival as a hard-to-kill “cockroach,” he envisions a comfortable title defense for Makhachev.
“Ian Garry’s striking is very, very good. Not that good, but very good. I’ve gone the distance with Ian Garry and felt his pros, his cons,” Page said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel.
“Ian Garry is just a very smart fighter… I see Ian Garry as somebody who, when it starts to go wrong, he can make those adjustments and then find a way. I think he’s a bit of a cockroach.
“I mean it with respect,” he continued. “He just seems to be able to — you just can’t kill him. He finds a way to get that victory.
“His wrestling defense has been quite exceptional…(but) again, Islam, I felt the same way when he was against JDM… There will be a struggle for Islam taking Ian down the first couple of times, but once he’s figured it out and got him down, I don’t think (Garry) sees daylight again.
“All of my chips are definitely in Islam’s corner.”
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Page is certainly in the majority with that prediction. Almost 74 percent of Bloody Elbow readers who voted in a UFC 330 TalkingPoints poll picked Makhachev to beat Garry.
But the Irishman has not lost his confidence ahead of his maiden title shot in the promotion, and he plans to follow in his inspiration’s footsteps by joining Conor McGregor in the UFC champs’ club.
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