Ian Garry is all set to face Islam Makhachev at UFC 330 in Philadelphia, and before the Irishman steps into the Octagon on August 15th, he has decided to heat up the situation. In a surprising claim, Garry accused the UFC welterweight champion of being dishonest about the failed negotiations involving Ilia Topuria for the UFC White House event.

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Ian Garry claimed that the welterweight champion was actually the one who turned down a matchup against Ilia Topuria for the June 14 UFC Freedom 250 event.

“They spoke to me about how they needed to do their due diligence and put on one of the biggest fights they possibly could, which was Ilia versus Islam at the White House,” Garry said. “Islam turned it down, to my knowledge, from what I’ve been told. And here we are. Do you know what I mean? The right fight has been made. The fight that should be fought. And we get it on August 15, my friend.”

As Garry pointed out, the UFC actually considered a superfight between Topuria and Makhachev before ultimately settling on Justin Gaethje for the June 14th event. However, as the Irishman directly accused the Dagestani of lying about the failed negotiations, the reports show contradictory statements from both camps, which suggest that negotiations had not gone smoothly from either side.

Among several social media posts, Topuria accused Makhachev and his team of “making up stories” to avoid fighting him. The former lightweight champion even claimed that Makhachev pointed to his alleged hand injury to turn down the fight. But Islam Makhachev later flipped the script and claimed the lightweight star’s team had demanded a massive purse for the fight.

According to the 170-pound champion, he accepted the fight offer without hesitation and said that his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, had actively negotiated the deal. Makhachev claimed the discussions eventually fell apart after Topuria’s team requested a substantial amount of money for the superfight. While the negotiation saga continued to grow more complicated, Dana White added another complex layer to the story by stating that Topuria vs. Makhachev was never seriously considered for the UFC White House card because of the Dagestani champion’s hand injury.  But once again, Makhachev disputed the UFC CEO’s version of events.

The 34-year-old insisted that he was not injured and even claimed he could provide messages between himself and his manager to prove his side. Amid all the confusion, Ilia Topuria’s manager, Malki Kawa, appeared on the Anik & Florian Show and confirmed that the UFC had indeed approached them about a potential fight against Makhachev, which they initially accepted. However, after the promotion failed to meet their lofty financial expectations, Kawa implied that the superfight ultimately fell apart, and they instead agreed to face Gaethje.

In that case, Kawa’s admission that the deal collapsed because the UFC could not meet their asking price does lend some support to Makhachev’s version of the story. Later, Islam Makhachev claimed in an interview that Topuria’s team had requested a staggering $20 million for the fight that fizzled out the discussions.

Now, that’s not the only thing Garry has accused Makhachev of. The Irishman also claimed that the reigning welterweight champion had turned down opportunities to fight him multiple times before finally agreeing to the UFC 330 showdown.  

Ian Garry claims Islam Makhachev rejected a fight Offer for a major event

For a while, Islam Makhachev’s next title defense against Ian Garry remained one of the most likely matchups that many believed would eventually happen. Now, the fight is only a few months away from taking place at UFC 330 on August 15 in Philadelphia.

Though Makhachev’s first title defense at welterweight is set for one of the biggest events of the year, Ian Garry claims that the UFC offered him opportunities to fight the champion in January, April, and even in May at UFC 328 in Newark, where Sean Strickland defeated Khamzat Chimaev.

“I was told I was next in January,” Garry added in the same interview. “There were talks about April. Then there was an official offer put out for May 9, which he turned down for Newark. I threw out the idea of International Fight Week. They said they had Fight Week. We deserve to be the main event. Obviously, they had Conor and Max planned for that, which is huge. And then, yeah, it just ended up… Eventually, it was no.”

To be fair, Islam Makhachev and his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, have both stated that the UFC did approach them regarding a fight in January. However, very little has been revealed regarding the welterweight champion potentially fighting in April or in May at Newark, other than Makhachev saying that he would prefer to compete in the month after Ramadan.

But it is also true that Makhachev’s camp wanted to fight in July, even though Dana White maintained that his return would likely take place in August because of the hand injury.

In that case, after months of accusing the welterweight champion of ducking him, Ian Garry has definitely launched some fresh accusations against Islam Makhachev before they eventually meet inside the Octagon in Philadelphia. That said, it will be interesting to see what kind of response the Dagestan native has in store for the Irishman as the buildup to UFC 330 continues.