Ian Machado Garry is still campaigning for a fight with Colby Covington, and he won’t settle for anything less if Covington keeps ‘running’.
Ian Garry was in Brazil for UFC 301 on Saturday as he watched fellow teammates compete on the card. The Irishman has been training at Chute Box Diego Lima with the likes of Charles Oliveira and Elves Brener – who was defeated on the UFC 301 prelims.
For several months, the 26-year-old has been calling for a fight with Colby Covington, and ‘Chaos’ gave Garry three stipulations to follow if he wanted to secure the fight.
Garry last fought at UFC 298 this past February, picking up the biggest win of his career thus far, against Geoff Neal.
Covington on the other hand saw another opportunity to win undisputed UFC gold slip through his fingers, as he was dominated by Leon Edwards at UFC 296 last November.
Ian Garry claims Covington will continue to run away from potential fight
After the return of Conor McGregor was announced for UFC 303 on International Fight Week, the number seven ranked welterweight, Garry, highlighted the co-main event as the spot he wanted to fight in.
Despite that, a fight between him and the 36-year-old still hasn’t been booked, and Garry fears it won’t come to fruition at this point, with ‘Chaos’ still ‘running’.
“Colby needs to stop running, that’s the truth. I feel like Colby’s running, he doesn’t want to say yes and he’s going to make every excuse he possibly can.” Garry told ESPN MMA.
The 26-year-old claimed that the UFC has offered him a fight with Covington, but Covington is yet to agree to the fight, with that being all they are waiting on.
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“Yes, there have been offers, but he hasn’t said yes all we’re waiting on is Colby to say yes and then that’s it, everything can get finalized, but I fully believe that Colby is going to run and he’s not going to fight this fight.
“He’s going to take every opportunity he can to keep running away from me.” ‘The Future’ added.
Ian Garry outlines his plan for 2024, but still wants to make ‘history’
Despite the fight with Colby Covington struggling to come to fruition, the Irishman’s main goal is to make ‘history’ by competing in the co-main event, underneath Conor McGregor.
“It makes so much sense that me and Conor (McGregor) get to (fight) on the same show, I’ve been messaging him and talking about it, it just makes a lot of sense. For me, I would love to main and co-main it.
“It would be the first time in history that we’ve had two Irish fighters main and co-main of a pay-per-view event and to do that for Ireland but also European MMA, for everything that we’ve done it would prove that the takeover part two has happened.” Garry added.
Setting his goals for the end of the year, the 26-year-old mentioned that he wants ‘two or three’ more fights this year as he continues his ascent up the 170lb division.
“(Colby’s) the only one I want. I want to fight at least two more times this year, I don’t want to stay inactive, I want to be active. I want to get two or three more in this year if I can, I’m just excited to see what the potential ahead of me lies.” Garry said.
‘The Future’ finished by admitting he will continue preparing for UFC 303 on June 29th, whether or not he gets a fight scheduled for his desired date is to be decided by the UFC and Colby Covington.