Dana White believes Ian Machado Garry wasted the best opportunity of his career at UFC 330. ‘The Future’ challenged Islam Makhachev for the UFC welterweight title in the main event in Philadelphia tonight, and while the Irishman surely made the fight a truly competitive one, the champion ultimately defended his title by unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the bout 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 in Makhachev’s favor.
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However, as per Dana White, the outcome could have been very different, and Ian Garry only has himself to blame. The Irishman displayed all the tools to pull off the upset, especially with his excellent takedown defense against Islam Makhachev and relentlessly targeting the champion’s body with some brutal strikes. But the one thing that Ian Garry lacked tonight, as per the UFC boss, was the killer instinct to seize the moment in the fifth round.
“I felt like tonight was a setup for the upset,” White said at the post-event press conference. “I felt like the upset could happen tonight with so much on the line, all the records that Islam has, and he’s gonna break Anderson Silva’s record. There’s weight classes for a reason, and Ian Garry is a big, rangey, strong guy who has great takedown defense. I mean, if you look at his takedown defense tonight against Islam, it was impressive.
“I think that Ian is a talented guy. If he had even an ounce of killer instinct in that fifth round, he had been beating him to the body. Islam’s whole, I think, right side was beat up; his face was beat up. You don’t come out, hug, and shake hands in the (final round); that s— drives me f—— crazy when there’s so much at stake, and there’s also a lot of mental gamesmanship, whatever you wanna call it in this game.”
According to Dana White, Ian Garry should have seen the last round as an opportunity to finish the fight rather than simply look to win another five-minute period. The UFC CEO even imagined how different the outcome could have been if ‘The Future’ entered the final round with a more aggressive mindset.
“You come out in that fifth round with a flying knee or something crazy, and you try to finish the fight,” he continued. “I think that this is one of those fights that Ian will go back and watch and say, ‘F—, wish I could do that over again.’
“If Ian came out of that f—— corner like, like, a raging f—— bull, you know, we might be having a different conversation right now.”
Dana White’s criticism did not necessarily target Ian Garry’s personality. He made it clear that he respects the Irishman’s character. His problem was that ‘The Future’ seemed unable to entirely separate that side of himself from the fighter once the bell rang. And that mindset was especially important given who Garry was standing across from.
“I think that Ian’s a classy guy, is what I think. And he always shows class,” White added. “He did before the fight; he goes over and shakes all the corners’ hands and all that stuff. It’s great. But when that f—— bell rings, you gotta switch, you gotta switch all that s— off and go in, definitely gotta do it in the fifth round.
“After he fought a great fight against Islam, who everybody in this room and everybody else is saying, ‘Well, we might start talking about GOAT.’ You don’t go shake the f——- GOAT’s hand going into the fifth round. You come out to f—— annihilate him. That just has to be your mindset. In my humble opinion.”
And well, many fans would argue that while Ian Garry surely lacked the killer instinct to finish the fight at UFC 330, he did deliver more damage compared to Islam Makhachev, who did secure multiple takedowns but failed to cause any significant harm to the Irishman in his record-17th consecutive UFC win.
Another factor that had all the hopes high for fight fans was the fact that this was the second coming in the legendary Irish vs. Dagestani MMA rivalry. But rather than diving into that narrative, the fighters, especially Ian Garry, opted to go the other way.
Ian Garry redefined the Irish-Dagestani rivalry with Islam Makhachev at UFC 330
Ian Garry and Islam Makhachev’s rivalry was supposed to carry the echoes of the iconic feud between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Instead, the two fighters went in the completely opposite direction.
After ‘The Notorious’ and Nurmagomedov’s feud turned into one of the most brutal rivalries in UFC history ahead of UFC 229 in 2018, ‘The Future’ and Makhachev purposefully avoided turning their title fight into another personal conflict.
In fact, during UFC 330 fight week, Ian Garry spent more time arguing with a journalist than exchanging insults with the reigning welterweight champion.
At the press conference, The Mac Life’s Oscar Willis asked Islam Makhachev if he was surprised by the strong booing directed toward the Irishman. Makhachev, leaning towards the rivalry, claimed that he wasn’t surprised nobody likes Ian Garry, considering that he himself wasn’t especially fond of the Irishman.
And when Willis tried to continue pushing the subject, Garry unexpectedly stepped in.
“What you’re doing now is just trying to cause trouble; don’t do it,” Garry told the journalist. “I thought we were cool; don’t do it. That’s just putting words in his f—– mouth, and you know it.
“If he wanted to say that, he can be honest and say that. But your job as a journalist is to be professional and stick to the f—— sport. This is the biggest fight of the year; I think there’s more important things to talk about.”
The unexpected lack of hostility continued throughout the week. Instead, they took a much more wholesome route. After their first face-off, Islam Makhachev unknowingly left Ian Garry’s son Leo disappointed after leaving before getting the opportunity to meet his young fan.
As a result, the toddler got emotional, with the Irishman promising that he would eventually arrange the meeting. And well, that occasion came later in fight week, when Makhachev met Ian Garry’s son and fulfilled the young fan’s wish.
So, as we can see, there was no Conor McGregor-Khabib-style animosity before the fight. Instead, Ian Garry and Islam Makhachev showed a remarkably respectful version of the Irish-Dagestani rivalry—and even after five rounds of competition, the tension never reached the level seen between their predecessors.
For Dana White, however, respect can only go so far once the cage door closes. After this fight, he feels Ian Garry’s next step is definitely to understand when to set aside his class and embrace the ruthless instinct required to become a UFC champion.
