A few hours back, Ian Machado Garry announced via Instagram that he has started camp for his next fight.
Garry is now the No. 2-ranked UFC welterweight contender after his former opponent and training partner, Shavkat Rakhmonov, was recently removed from the rankings.
‘The Future’ boasts a UFC record of 10-1 and has secured back-to-back wins in 2025. He beat Carlos Prates in April 2025 and former champion Belal Muhammad in November.
The short-notice risk-taker has been calling out newly minted UFC 170-pound champion and pound-for-pound king Islam Makhachev for the past few months. However, the Dagestani wrestling maestro has not shown interest in locking horns with the Irishman yet.
Makhachev is expected to enter the octagon post-Ramadan to make the first defense of his welterweight crown. Among potential title challengers are Garry, Michael Morales, Carlos Prates, and lastly Kamaru Usman, whom Makhachev has shown interest in facing next, as he believes ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ to be the hardest challenge at 170 pounds.
Ian Machado Garry, however, does not care about Makhachev or the latter’s manager’s wishes and has already announced on Instagram that he is the number one welterweight on the planet, who should challenge Makhachev next.
A few hours back, on Instagram, the Irishman posted two photos of himself sparring with the following caption:
In Camp”
Ian Machado Garry Proposes Three Key Welterweight Matchups
In another Instagram video, Ian Machado Garry suggested who should fight whom next in the UFC welterweight division.
The 170-pound division is stacked with contenders who have done enough to earn a title shot next. Hence, Ian Machado Garry wants to make things easier for the UFC matchmakers while keeping his own name firmly at the top.
‘The Future’ wants Carlos Prates to fight Michael Morales next, but believes Morales won’t accept the bout as ‘The Nightmare’ hits much harder. Other than that, Garry suggested Jack Della Maddalena vs. Kamaru Usman, as he wants to see if Della Maddalena has improved his ground game after his title loss to Islam Makhachev, and whether the 38-year-old Kamaru Usman can still breeze past young contenders.
The final matchup, ‘The Future,’ proposed is, of course, him vs. Islam Makhachev.
Check out Ian Machado Garry’s comments below:
