Ian Machado Garry has a plan for climbing the UFC’s welterweight ranks.
Following a first-round finish of Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Charlotte, Machado Garry called for his next fight to be against veteran Neil Magny. The pairing would undoubtedly receive high billing on any UFC card, with Machado Garry currently undefeated at 12-0 and Magny (27-10) owning the promotion’s record for most wins at 170 pounds with 20.
Machado Garry explained his callout further during an appearance on The MMA Hour.
“[Rodriguez] was the first ranked opponent I’ve ever fought,” Machado Garry said. “I knocked him out in three minutes, and then we move on to the second. We’ll find out who’s next, I want Neil Magny. I called out Neil Magny on the mic, and I believe that he is a phenomenal matchup for me for many, many reasons. One, he’s been the gatekeeper of the division for—I would argue, since I’ve been an amateur fighter. Years and years and years ago, before I was anywhere near the UFC, Neil Magny was in the top 10. When Khamzat came into the division, he was calling out Khamzat, saying he wants to fight him every time one of them fought. He’s not afraid of anybody.
“He’s good everywhere, I don’t believe he’s great anywhere, and I believe that I can go in there and show off a lot more of the bells and whistles that I have, that’s not just all on the feet. That if he wants to go to the ground, he wants to mix it up and get dirty with me, that Ian can get dirty too.”
Machado Garry and Magny even share a recent win, with Magny having submitted Rodriguez this past November.
One snag in Machado Garry’s matchmaking, though, is that Magny is currently expected to fight Phil Hawes on June 24 at UFC Jacksonville. Even knowing this, Machado Garry still feels that Magny is the best name to advance his standing at this stage of his career.
“In an absolute ideal world, [Magny] wins, that would be ideal,” Machado Garry said. “But I think, regardless — and this is no disrespect to Phil Rowe — I think a lot of people know who Neil Magny is and don’t know who Phil is. So I still think that Neil Magny is the bigger name and the one that the fans will notice more.
“Obviously, I want him to win, I want him to go out there and do well so that when we come together it’s massive, but I believe that, regardless, me vs. Neil Magny is a step up to the rest of the competition I’ve ever faced and it’s exciting for me to go out there and test myself against a guy of his caliber.”
So far, Machado Garry and his team have hit all the right notes in his UFC run, with the Irish fighter surging in popularity with every appearance due to his confident public image and lively social media presence. It helps that he keeps seeing his hand raised, with five wins in five UFC appearances following a standout run with Europe’s Cage Warriors promotion.
“The Future” has already scored two knockout wins this year, and if the right matchups line up for him, he hopes to add two more names to his hit list before the end of 2023.
“I want to be active,” Machado Garry said. “So I believe the most important thing for me now is let’s see what happens with this Magny fight and once that’s done and over and we see what’s happened, if anyone has the balls to call me out in between there in the top 15 then maybe we can make it happen, but I would like to fight probably two more times this year.”
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