“Nightmare” – Khamzat Chimaev Put on Alert as Fans React to Ian Garry’s Plans After Shavkat Rakhmonov Fight at UFC 310

There’s more than one way Ian Garry emulates Conor McGregor, besides his incredible skills on the microphone. The brash Irishman infamously did the McGregor strut after finishing Song Kenan via third-round TKO at UFC 285. With him standing on the cusp of a probable title shot, following a possible win at UFC 310 over the dangerous Kazakh Shavkat Rakhmonov, Machado Garry is looking beyond his weight class, much like ‘The Notorious’ did. However, ‘The Future’ is looking at one specific matchup at middleweight that will determine a future champ-champ status, and that is a fight against Khamzat Chimaev.

While having a conversation with veteran journalist, Ariel Helwani, Ian Garry asserted that he isn’t afraid to face anyone within his division. He further stated that after dealing with Shavkat Rakhmonov and Belal Muhammad in his division, he would jump up a division to middleweight to deal with Khamzat Chimaev for the 185 lbs gold, “I’m a young kid who dreamt of being here, who wanted to see my face on billboards, who wanted to put on shows against the scariest people in the world,” said Garry. Khamzat Chimaev isn’t the current middleweight champion, but there is a likelihood that he may hold the title by the time ‘The Future’ gets to him.

“I’ve said to you before how my ideal scenario is: I fight, I beat Shavkat Rakhmonov, I win the world title, I go to middleweight, and I fight Khamzat Chimaev. I win that belt too. I’m not afraid of any man. I know how talented I am. I know the gifts God gave me. I want to go out there and prove it against what people believe to be the best people in the world that’s what I’m here for.”, he further added.

Just like Shavka͏t R͏akh͏monov and Khamzat Chimaev͏, Ia͏n Garry remains u͏ndefeated in ͏his MMA career. Ho͏wever, b͏oth ‘Borz’ and͏ ‘Nomad’ have arguably face͏d t͏o͏ugh͏er competi͏tion in the͏ir respective journeys͏. Challenges l͏ike th͏ese w͏ould undoubtedly ͏raise͏ t͏he bar͏ f͏or G͏arry,͏ wh͏o ha͏s been h͏eav͏ily cr͏itici͏zed by ͏the͏ MMA ͏c͏om͏munity for his antics. Neve͏rt͏heles͏s, as soon ͏as his comments w͏e͏re sha͏red͏ by the media,͏ fans eag͏erly ste͏pped in t͏o share ͏th͏ei͏r personal o͏pinion͏s.

Fans gave a reality check to Ian Garry on his double-champ aspirations

There was a time within the promotion when jumping divisions was considered the biggest feat for a fighter, but times have changed and now every other fighter is looking to become a double champ. Not yet a champion, Ian Garry has to wait in line behind Ilia Topuria, Belal Muhammad, and even Dricus Du Plessis who have double-gold aspirations. Keeping this in mind, a fan wrote, “This moving up thing is getting out of hand.” 

Conor McGregor’s former status as a double champ started a race for many fighters who found champ-champ glory like Amanda Nunes, Daniel Cormier, and Henry Cejudo. It wouldn’t be wrong to state that ‘Mystic Mac’ changed the dynamics of the game forever,  “Conor becoming double champ with all the confidence in the world really changed the MMA game forever”

On the other hand, one social media user expressed frustration at fighters jumping weight classes, and forwarded the following proposition to Dana White, “The ufc needs to make a rule where you need at least 3 title defenses before you can move up and challenge for a second belt. If you move up prior to that, you should be required to fight a contender in that division before getting a title shot.”

Another fan echoed a similar sentiment of reigning champions having to multiple title defenses before jumping weight classes, “I’ve said it once I’ve said it again, i think you should have to clear ur division 3-5 defenses before challenging for a second belt”. This frustration most probably stems from Conor McGregor holding two belts at one point while defending neither, thereby holding both divisions hostage.

Ian Garry as a fighter is primarily a striker, and the man he wants to face at middleweight has a strong grappling base. In that sense, one fan pointed out that Khamzat Chimaev might actually be the worst stylistic matchup for Machado Garry, stating, “No. Khamzat is a stylistic nightmare for Garry.” Another fan echoed the same sentiment and gave a reality check to Ian Garry with the ‘Borz’ matchup, “He is sniffing glue if he thinks he will beat Khamzat.” 

This coming Saturday will decide the fate of the welterweight division as either Ian Garry or Shavkat Rakhmonov will throw down, and possibly fight for the title next. Who do you think will say goodbye to their undefeated record? State your thoughts in the comments below.