Ian Machado Garry’s bid to climb the UFC welterweight ladder continues on February 17 at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California.

The Irishman, a perfect 13-0 in career (6-0 UFC), was originally intended to compete in December against 170-pound veteran Vicente Luque before a bout with pneumonia removed him from the contest. Instead, Garry will renew his rivalry with Geoff Neal, whom he was expected to face last summer before Neal withdrew through injury.

Garry, the former Cage Warriors champion, was one of last year’s most talked-about fighters — in part due to the obvious skills in the cage, but also due to a series unsubstantiated rumours propagated by the dark underbelly of MMA media and by a handful of rival fighters.

But against Neal, Garry will look to bury that negative energy and resume his hunt for UFC gold — and if his performance looks like the one he rolled out last May against Daniel Rodriguez, he stands with a good chance of moving one step closer to his ultimate ambition.

Check out Garry’s sublime KO of Rodriguez in the video below:

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