It’s sometimes said that high-level MMA is a game of inches — but according to unbeaten UFC welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry, there are chasms that separate his skill level from that of upcoming opponent Michael ‘Venom’ Page.

Garry, 26, will seek to continue his rise of the 170-pound ladder late this month when he takes on the former Bellator standout ‘MVP’ on the main card of UFC 303 — a blockbuster fight card which also features the return to the Octagon of Garry’s compatriot, Conor McGregor.

But while MVP’s unique brand of point-fighting style kickboxing (which, to be fair, has delivered a litany of highlight reel knockouts) has proven too difficult a task to solve for 22 of the 24 opponents he ha faced in his career (he’s 22-2, with 13 KOs), Dubliner Garry is of the opinion that the Englishman will have little for him when the cage door closes in Las Vegas on June 29.

“I wasn’t remotely interested in this fight,” Garry explained, via Lucky Block. “I’m not going to lie. I was looking for a top five opponent, but there was no one available above me to fight. So now I  had no choice if I wanted to fight — but to look down and go, ‘Who’s the biggest name? Who’s the biggest test that UFC fans want to see me go up against?’Everyone was saying Michael Page, then that’s the one guy to make it happen with, but I wasn’t remotely interested in fighting him.”

Garry’s apparent disinterest in taking on the 13th-ranked Page — who has competed just once so far in the UFC, a comprehensive decision win over Kevin Holland in March — can be explained by his relentless pursuit of a bout with Colby Covington, the three-time former world title challenger at 170 who has so far resisted, for whatever reason, signing a bout agreement.

But now that the dust has fallen and he is in a fight camp to take on Page in a month’s time, Garry says that the fight will showcase why exactly he considers his rise to the title as inevitable.

“I believe I’m levels above him in every single way, shape and form, and this is just an opportunity to show it, to prove it to people,” Garry said.

“I can go, ‘You guys think this guy is good?’ OK, let’s see when he shows up on June 29th in Las Vegas. Let’s see when we stand in that Octagon, I’ll use him as an example.”