Highlights
- Garry needs a noteworthy win to prove he's a contender.
- Covington and Garry have a heated history to settle.
- A Covington vs. Garry match could be as intense as McGregor vs. Khabib.
One of the fights to watch at UFC 298, outside of Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski's featherweight title bout, was the Ian Machado Garry and Geoff Neal clash. Admittedly, Garry has been in the headlines over the last few months for controversial reasons away from the octagon.
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Ian Machado Garry Needs A Hype Boost
'The Future' Needs A Big Scalp To Remind Fans He Is A Contender
- Garry was born in Portmanock, Ireland on Nov. 17, 1987.
- The 26-year-old Irishman debuted in MMA in 2019 at Cage Warriors 101 in England.
- 'The Future' made his UFC bow in 2021 and has won seven straight since.
Garry talks a big game and while he has looked good, some performances have been listless. Garry even annoyingly addressed mixed martial arts media personnel after UFC 298; people he felt were hating. Now, it's worth remembering that Garry came into the UFC with a 7-0 record, cutting his teeth in Cage Warriors. Now, his record stands at 14-0.
He has emphatic wins over Jordan Williams (KO), Song Kenan (TKO) and Daniel Rodriguez (TKO). In those fights, he showed great footwork, how to command range and distance, and how to strike, move and pick apart opponents with short-jabs, elbows, kicks and knees. The problem is, the other fights have been lukewarm: more specifically, him not being able to finish Neal and Neil Magny in his last two.
Both are considered welterweight gatekeepers and the guys you beat to put your name in title contention. However, fans are viewing Garry as stale and only exciting against low-level talent, rather than the mid-carders or the upper echelon. This boring tag is a problem that fellow welterweight Belal Muhammad ran into for some time, and even the current champion, Leon Edwards, had before he won gold.
Welterweight already has needle-moving finishers such as Shavkat Rakhmonov and Gilbert Burns, so it's easy to understand why people demand more from Garry. Instead, by lambasting the media, he comes off not too self-aware of why audiences want to see him step on the gas and stake a claim.
If he keeps comparing himself to countryman, Conor McGregor, it will only make things worse, evidenced by the fans booing him at the UFC 298 press conference and the fight itself. This has led to even more vitriol being thrown at him online. However, Covington represents a spotlight that he can use to elevate his brand and C.V.
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'Chaos' Has Already Slung Mud At The Machado Garry Clan
- Covington was born in Clovis, California on Feb. 22, 1988.
- The 35-year-old American debuted in MMA in 2012 at Midtown Throwdown 3 in Oregon.
- 'Chaos' came into the UFC in 2014 with a 5-0 record, which now stands at 17-4.
Covington needs a big scalp to get back into the limelight after losing welterweight title fights against Kamaru Usman (twice) and Edwards. He currently has no wins against the top 15, while Garry has two. This is why many think Covington is trying to cherry-pick an easy victory over a striker like Stephen Thompson; someone long in the tooth at 41 and who doesn't fare well against wrestlers like Covington.
By booking Garry against Covington, though, the UFC has a win-win situation. Firstly, Covington can shut Garry's hype train down and show he is ranked fifth for a reason. Simply put, he cannot let a young wolf like Garry take his meal ticket away. Conversely, Garry can take Covington out, crack into the top five, and in a fight where both men would essentially be heels, prove that he is someone people should be rooting for.
Garry has already told The MMA Hour he wants to destroy, silence and retire Covington, especially after the unsavory remarks the American made about Edwards' dead father. In addition, Covington has said nasty things about Garry's wife, Layla Machado, and the family's domestic situation, which makes the rivalry all the more natural.
Garry, himself, has had to defend his family's honor from Covington, the likes of Sean Strickland, and other MMA bloggers after caustic attacks were leveled. This sets the stage for a make-or-break scrap for Covington, or for Garry to get past the ultimate litmus test and prove he belongs up there with the welterweight elite.
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'The Future' vs. 'Chaos' Is Sure To Spill Over Outside The Octagon
- Garry was a nomad in terms of training, before settling with Charles Oliveira's Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil.
- Covington has wins over former welterweight champs, Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley, as well as victories over Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos.
- Covington trained with Dan Lambert's American Top Team before moving to Miami's MMA Masters in 2020.
Fans will recall how heated the McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov feud got before their lightweight title fight at 2018's UFC 229. McGregor levied terrorism accusations against Nurmagomedov's camp, insulted Nurmagomedov's religion, and also, his family -- something that unfortunately extended to when Abdulmanap (Khabib's father) died in 2020.
It built to a skirmish outside the cage after McGregor got submitted. This surprised no one, especially as the UFC used a previous bus assault by McGregor's crew to create buzz for the fight. Simply put: there were toxic dominoes being knocked over and no one keeping anything in check. It has been like that with Covington and Garry, with the former calling the latter a "cuck" and harping on how Layla's ex-husband is Ian's nutritionist.
It has gotten pretty low, drawing the family's kids in, and leaving MMA enthusiasts curious if Covington will want a fight against a man who wants to punish him for the slander. It nods to the Masvidal and Covington drama too, where Covington beat Masvidal in the cage, but was then blindsided in the Miami streets by 'Gamebred' for all the disparaging remarks -- an incident that led to Masvidal's arrest and a lawsuit. In Garry's case, he is way more of a stylistic nightmare, leaving folks skeptical Covington will even entertain such a tough affair.
If it does happen, with so many trolls and a chorus of other critics such as Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, one has to wonder if Garry will keep his cool outside the octagon, before and after the fight. Covington is sure to try to get in his head with his America-first gimmick. And certain to bring in the book the older Layla wrote on how older WAGS (wives and girlfriends) should operate to land younger sports stars like Ian. That could set off a huge fracas, which already feels like a swelling powder keg.
Ultimately, this has the potential to be equally personal, inflammatory and incendiary as when 'The Eagle' and 'Mystic Mac' had their press circuit. That is, if the UFC sees merit in it. And the matchmakers should, because both fighters -- love or hate them -- bring a lot of eyes to the table and can move the division's top order along. In this case, the stakes will be extra high, which adds pressure to the boiler situation.
Recently, a similar melee popped off when Dricus du Plessis got attacked by Strickland in the UFC 296 stands following searing comments about Strickland's childhood abuse. But like the bus incident, UFC's media team will lap up any Garry and Covington content, no matter how sadistic, knowing there is no such thing as bad PR in the MMA press arena.
