Garry promises long UFC title reign: I'll do what GSP did
LAS VEGAS - Ian Machado Garry plans to hold the UFC welterweight championship for a long time once he reaches the top.
Garry could secure a title fight against Belal Muhammad when he squares off with Shavkat Rakhmonov in the five-round co-main event of UFC 310 on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
The 27-year-old Irishman anticipates the top of the 170-pound division will undergo a makeover over the next year-and-a-half, and he believes that'll culminate in a title reign that rivals the legendary runs of Georges St-Pierre and Jon Jones.
"The young are gonna start to feed off the old," Garry told reporters, including theScore, at UFC 310 media day Wednesday. "We're going to start to see the guys that have been in the division and dominating the division for so long slowly fade away. It's happening, slowly but surely. You will see a complete shift in this division in the next 18 months.
"You've got some amazing guys coming up, all young, all hungry, all trying to prove how good they are. And it's gonna be exciting when I'm sat there with the belt wrapped around my waist going, 'You're next, then you, then you, then you.' I'm gonna do what GSP (did), I'm gonna do what Jon Jones has done, I'm gonna do what Israel Adesanya has done. I'm gonna dominate the division for a long, long time. It's gonna be amazing."
Jones and St-Pierre are two of the greatest fighters of all time. Jones reigned over the light heavyweight division multiple times between 2009 and 2020, and then he moved up to heavyweight in 2023 and became the eighth two-division champion in UFC history. St-Pierre held the welterweight title from 2006-07 and then again from 2008-13, recording the most consecutive defenses in division history (nine). St-Pierre also captured the middleweight belt in 2017.
The UFC 310 co-main event between Rakhmonov and Garry is a rare matchup between two undefeated fighters ranked in the top 10 of their division. Rakhmonov, the No. 3 welterweight, is 6-0 in the UFC and 18-0 as a pro with a 100% finish rate. Garry, ranked No. 7, has won eight in a row since his UFC debut.
Garry stepped in on short notice after Muhammad pulled out of a scheduled title defense against Rakhmonov due to a health issue. UFC CEO Dana White labeled the new matchup a No. 1 contender bout.
In the UFC 310 main event, Alexandre Pantoja will defend the flyweight title against Kai Asakura.