‘The Future’ is looking ahead after he returned to the win column in Kansas City on Saturday night.
Despite a late rally from his opponent, Ian Machado Garry defeated Carlos Prates over five rounds to bounce back from losing his undefeated record last time out.
Machado Garry and Prates shared a respectful encounter backstage but for the Irishman, he’s already singled out his next few moves.
The 27-year-old has always visualized the steps that are in front of him and though that didn’t pay off for him at UFC 310 last December, he has big targets in mind after halting the momentum of ‘The Nightmare’.
Dana White has already confirmed that Machado Garry will be the backup for UFC 315 in several weeks but this is just the start of his plan to dominate the sport.
Ian Machado Garry names Islam Makhachev in his three-fight plan
In his post-fight press conference at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Ian Machado Garry outlined his three-fight plan after beating Carlos Prates via unanimous decision.
The Irishman spoke ahead of April 26 about how he felt that a win would put him back into title contention and the welterweight belt is the first box that he wants to tick.
Machado Garry will be in attendance at UFC 315 in Montreal where Belal Muhammad faces Jack Della Maddalena in the champion’s first title defense.
‘The Future’ said that he believes his next step will be to face Muhammad once ‘Remember The Name’ comes through May 10 with the 170-pound gold still wrapped around his waist.
“You guys know I like plans, right? You guys know I have visions in my mind, well let me tell you what’s next. I’m gonna fight the winner, I believe it’s Belal and that’s nothing against Jack, I just believe that stylistically Belal has what it takes to get this fight done and quite convincingly. So I’m gonna fight Belal next, I’m gonna gonna beat Belal. Belal has said it many, many times, I am the toughest opponent in the division for him.”
The main event of UFC 315 also has some interesting stakes for the lightweight division where Islam Makhachev has spoken openly about wanting to move up to try and become a two-weight champion.
Muhammad sitting at the top causes some complications at this time but Machado Garry believes that this will work out in his favor so that he can take on the best active fighter in the sport today.
“Then, when Belal doesn’t have the belt, there’s a certain pound-for-pound number one who wants to come up and his name is Islam Makhachev. I have nothing but love and respect for that man and his style, it would be an honor to share the Octagon with him. I would love to go out there and prove against him in my first title defense that I’m the pound-for-pound number one.”
After beating two champions in back-to-back fights, the last name on Machado Garry’s hitlist is the only opponent who has ever beaten him.
Shavkat Rakhmonov won a unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 310 following a close fight and it seems likely that their paths will cross again in the future.
“I beat him, I take that status, I win my first title defense, and then Shavkat gets the rematch and I’m gonna go out there and I’m going to dismantle that man and prove that he never won that fight and that’s my next three-fight plan. That’s how I see it going and I don’t want that any other way.”
There’s one slight problem with Ian Machado Garry’s three-fight plan
The idea of seeing Islam Makhachev move up to face a welterweight champion that isn’t Belal Muhammad and Ian Machado Garry facing Shavkat Rakhmonov in a rematch both seem fairly likely to happen at some point.
Where the Irishman’s plan might fall apart is in him getting the next shot at whoever comes out on top in the main event of UFC 315.
Not only is Makhachev paying close attention, Shavkat Rakhmonov was set to be the challenger until he couldn’t make the date and given that he has a win over Machado Garry, he’s still higher in the pecking order.
There’s also the likes of Sean Brady who is currently ranked as the #1-contender whilst Joaquin Buckley will also enter the mix if he’s able to get past Kamaru Usman when they face off in Atlanta.
Machado Garry might have to extend his plan to four-fights so that he can prove himself to be the number one contender first by beating the likes of Brady or Buckley.