Ian Machado Garry didn’t hold back any punches when asked about Kamaru Usman’s campaign to get the next UFC welterweight title shot.
Despite being a former champion, Machado Garry (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) thinks Usman shouldn’t be in any discussions of a potential title shot against newly crowned champion Islam Makhachev. In fact, just the idea of it irritates Machado Garry, who’s on a two-fight winning streak and coming off a unanimous decision win over ex-champion Belal Muhammad at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 265 in Qatar.
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“Kamaru Usman is irrelevant,” Machado Garry told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 265 post-fight press conference. “He shouldn’t be mentioned in this title contention. It’s ridiculous. It’s Khabib’s camp being smart, trying to get a has-been who has name value for Islam to get his 17th consecutive win. That’s a copout as a champion. That fight cannot happen because that’s not the right thing to do. That is not the duty of the world champion. He is meant to fight the best in the world – which is me.”
Usman has been very vocal about being next in line. He does have plenty of history in the division and is the most accomplished name right now campaigning for the opportunity. However, he is 38 and just recently returned to the win column, snapping a three-fight losing skid with a decision win over Joaquin Buckley in June. Merit wise, many think there are several other names like Machado Garry, Michael Morales and Shavkhat Rakmonov.
Machado Garry thinks he’s undisputedly the most deserving out of the bunch and that he proved it to the UFC on Saturday.
“I can’t remember how many fights Belal has had in the UFC, something like 22 or 23, and nobody has done that to him,” Machado Garry said. “Nobody has beat him everywhere. I showed against a former champion of this division, the No. 1 welterweight on the planet, and I wiped the floor with him for 15 minutes. It sounds pretty convincing to me.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ian Machado Garry goes off on ‘irrelevant’ Kamaru Usman
