Ian Machado Garry certainly isn’t lacking confidence.
The 26-year-old Irishman once again puts his undefeated career record on the line Saturday night when he fights former Bellator standout Michael ‘Venom’ Page on the main card of UFC 303 inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
In Page, Machado Garry arguably faces his toughest career test against the striking specialist who has amassed a 22-2 record in professional mixed martial arts, and who was successful in his UFC debut this past March against Kevin Holland.
But despite coming up short in his pursuit of Colby Covington and now fighting down the rankings for the first time in his UFC career, Machado Garry says that the fight will showcase not just his skills, but his ability to outclass all comers in the talent-rich welterweight class.
“This is the first time I’m stepping into an octagon with that championship mentality of ‘I am better than you, I am going to prove it’ and that is all my job is, is to go out there and prove that there’s a reason you’re ranked below me,” Garry told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, as noted by MMA Fighting.
“There’s a reason I’m ranked higher than you and now it’s to go out there and completely outclass MVP in any way, shape and form necessary to get my hand raised.”
All but five of Page’s career bouts took place under the Bellator banner where despite recording a spectacular highlight reel, he failed to gain the promotion’s welterweight crown — most recently losing a split decision to Logan Storley in 2022 in a fight to contest the interim 170-pound title.
And if he couldn’t do it in Bellator, Machado Garry doubts Page will see success in the UFC.
“MVP was used and utilized in a very smart way by Bellator,” he said. “We understand this kid’s talented. We understand this kid can talk and he can sell fights. They gave him a very easy run of opponents to go out there and build his brand and build his promotion, He was knocking out people he should have knocked out. He was beating people he should have beaten.
“But when you look at him against Paul Daley, when you look at him against former Cage Warriors champion Ross Houston, when you look at him against Logan Storley, a three-time NCAA champion, when you look at him twice against Douglas Lima and Kevin Holland, sure he’s looked great because he’s a great fighter and he has a great specific talent, which is that point-kickboxing karate style that’s awkward and irritating. But he’s not been able to finish these guys or dominate them in the way that he should.
“Now he’s here,” he added. “Now he’s fighting someone 11 years younger than him. Someone who’s far more talented in every facet of the game than he ever wished he could be. It’s my job to go out there and show there’s a reason I’m this highly ranked. There’s a reason why everyone talks about me from before my Cage Warriors debut. There’s a reason why people in MMA knew who I was. It’s because of the talent and the hard work that I have.”
