Irish sensation Ian Garry has declared that he is the superstar of the UFC 292 card and that the card would struggle without his inclusion.
Garry, will take on late replacement Neil Magny, following the withdrawal of his original opponent Geoff Neal from their scheduled bout.
Ian Garry Carrying the Card?
When speaking with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Garry claimed that he was carrying the PPV event on his back.
“I believe that I am carrying this (UFC) 292 card on my back and if it wasn’t for me, this card would go down the drain. With the opponent change, at the end of the day, I’m just happy the fans get to see me.”
“I know there is a lot of Irish and Brazilian support in Boston that are excited to have me there. I’m glad the fans get to watch me live, in action.”
A Bold Statement?
Ian ‘Machado’ Garry is certainly a polarising character. He has captured the imagination from the UFC fans around the world with his performances to date But it isn’t just his performances inside the octagon that are grabbing Ian Garry the headlines. Garry has been described as bold, confident and arrogant, depending on who you ask.
Since his arrival to the UFC his stature amongst the fans appears to be one that could be comparable to Marmite. He is either hated or adored, depending on who you were to ask. One thing that is for certain, is that UFC fans around the world are talking about him.
Garry showed his bold confidence once more by claiming that he was single-handedly carrying a card which features two title fights and a number of household names.
The card sees Sean O’Malley attempt to achieve UFC gold for the first time against bantamweight GOAT Aljamain Sterling in the main event. Zhang Weili attempts to defend her strawweight crown against Amanda Lemos. Further down the card, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera looks to get back to winning ways against Pedro Munhoz and Chris Weidman finally makes his return from a horrific leg break, to face Brad Tavares.
The Superstar?
Adding further to his claims of carrying the card, Garry continued, “For sure. I’m Irish. I’m fighting in Boston. They have a massive Irish contingent. I’ve just been in Brazil for the last two-and-a-half months. The biggest contingent for Brazilians is in Massachusetts in Boston.”
“This is the stage, the platform where I go in there, you said it, you got (the) likes of Sean O’Malley and Aljamain and all these guys. I’m the superstar on the card. It happened in the last fight, it’s happening in this fight. The wheels are in motion, I just have to show up and do my thing and the world will see.”
Riding the Wave of Momentum
Ian Garry is full of self-belief, and why would he be. Last time out, he put on a destructive performance against ‘D-Rod’ Daniel Rodriguez with a stoppage performance that nobody saw coming… except for Garry.
The Irishman is now 5-0 in the UFC and is undefeated as a mixed martial artist. Garry is on a twelve fight win streak and has never suffered defeat in the professional ranks.
‘Machado’ has previously claimed that we are witnessing “The takeover part two”, in reference to Conor McGregor‘s iconic, “We’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over” speech. So far, he has given us very little to question that sentiment, and Garry appears to be getting better with every fight. His fight against Neil Magny, is again, another step up in class and is sure to deliver for the Boston crowd.
Boston, as Garry correctly stated, is known to have a huge Irish contingent and will likely have a strong backing from the crowd in the arena. When the Irish are in town, the atmosphere is like no other and Garry will be hoping to provide a performance, that will send the city of Boston into an all out party.
Is Ian Garry going to go all the way? Are you a lover or a hater of Ian Garry? Do you believe he is the superstar of the show? If not, who is? Let us know in the comments section.
All quotes are taken from an article produced by BJPENN.COM following Garry’s appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
