After the allegation was made at UFC 303, a Brazilian Chute Boxe fighter has now claimed that the offer to spy on Ian Machado Garry was real.
Back at the UFC 303 pre-fight press conference, ‘The Future’ alleged that Michael ‘Venom’ Page and his team had attempted to infiltrate his training camp in Brazil with a sizable monetary offer.
Ian Machado Garry called out MVP for ‘espionage attempt’ at UFC 303
According to Ian Machado Garry, speaking at the pre-fight press conference, the promotional newcomer risked being “suspended for life” over the alleged attempt to put a spy in his training camp, adding that no amount of money could sway such a close-knit team.
“Your little rat Jiu-Jitsu coach offered money to one of my Brazilian friends and you got nothing… All I know is that you’re going to get suspended after this f***** fight, you’re never fighting again after this fight… You and your Jiu-Jitsu coach are getting suspended for life.”
Dana White himself commented on the story, insisting that the accusation was simply mental warfare on the part of ‘The Future’ – but was it?
Brazilian lightweight reportedly confirmed story of alleged spy offer
Whilst such accusations should never be taken lightly, many within the MMA community seemingly dismissed Garry’s allegation as either false or highly exaggerated right off the bat – however, the Chute Boxe member involved has reportedly come out to confirm the story as genuine.
As stated in an article by Guilherme Cruz of MMAFighting, 25-year-old 2-0 Brazilian lightweight Matheus Terra, who trains at the iconic gym, claimed that he was approached by an unknown London-based man 26 days before the PPV with an offer of $10,000 to send information on Garry’s training.
“He called me and asked if I needed money. I thought he was going to invite me to teach seminars there or maybe fight, but he came with this offer…
“He wanted me to film [Ian’s training sessions] and share Ian Garry’s gameplan with them, and they would pay me a $10,000 reward.”
Terra says that he responded to the offer to spy on the Top 10 welterweight prospect via text so that there was a paper trail of their conversation, stating he didn’t believe “it was right even though I’m not close to [Garry].”
“He’s a member of my team. It’s about loyalty… It’s a lot of f**** money, and I need it, but I can’t. Don’t get me wrong, brother.”
According to Cruz, the 2-0 MMA fighter, who also dreams of becoming a UFC champion one day, admitted that he didn’t know for sure whether Page knew about the messages, but noted that he “probably did because they train together and there’s money involved.”
When asked what the reaction was of Chute Boxe head coach Diego Lima, Terra said that the initial response was one of surprise, but also appreciation for Terra’s handling of such a difficult situation.
“[Lima] was like, ‘How can this still happen these days?’ He was happy to know that he can count on his fighters to not betray the team for money. Some people show lack of character when there’s money involved. Garry was very happy, too.”
Ian Machado Garry wants to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov next
With the MVP win now secured, Garry can continue his ascent up the welterweight rankings and whilst the brash Irishman chose not to call anyone out in his UFC 303 post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, it didn’t take long for him to start shooting his shot.
“You know there’s Shavkat [Rakhmonov], 18-0, undefeated and I’d love to get my hands on him… I’ve trained with him, I have nothing but respect for the guy, but I want to be the first guy to take his 0 and I know that I can do it.”
He followed up with Megan Olivi: “I’ve just beat the fastest guy in the division other than me. When it comes to striking – I can do it.
“When it comes to grappling, we’ve seen the growth I’ve had, and I’m excited to go out there [and] prove it against someone like him [Rakhmonov].”
A few days later, Garry would go into more detail on those training sessions with the Kazakh ‘Nomad’.