Makhachev's Plan for Ian Garry at UFC 330: Chase Him, Then Choke Him

Islam Makhachev has a scouting report on Ian Machado Garry, and it fits on a napkin: the Irishman moves, so Makhachev plans to chase him down and put him on the mat. The two-division champ and current pound-for-pound No. 1 makes his first welterweight title defense at UFC 330 on Aug. 15, and he told MMA Fighting at Zuffa Boxing 9 that he's spent this camp literally running to prepare for Garry's hit-and-move footwork.

The plan isn't complicated because Makhachev doesn't think it needs to be. He says Garry fights the same way every time — constant movement, few surprises — and that he intends to close the distance, take him down, and repeat the formula that buried a string of former opponents. That formula has a strong track record. Makhachev enters as one of the most dominant grapplers in the sport, and Garry, for all his striking polish, hasn't been dragged to the canvas by someone at this level.

The Oliveira Angle

There's a wrinkle worth noting: Garry trains alongside Charles Oliveira, the former lightweight king who ranks No. 3 at 155 and owns a staggering 22 submissions across his 37-11 career. On paper, that's elite inside knowledge. In practice, Makhachev has already solved that puzzle. When the two met in 2022, he dropped Oliveira early and finished him with an arm-triangle in the second round.

So Makhachev isn't losing sleep over the training-partner intel. He joked that the only thing Oliveira can teach Garry is how to tap quickly — a dig that lands harder when you remember Oliveira's 22 submission wins are mostly the ones he's handing out, not the one he received in that fight.

Country vs. Country?

Garry could try to frame this as revenge for Ireland, given the history between his homeland and Makhachev's camp. Khabib Nurmagomedov submitted Conor McGregor in the fourth round back in 2018, and Usman Nurmagomedov twice beat Irishman Paul Hughes in the PFL. Makhachev knows the scoreboard — he called it 2-0 and predicted it'll be 3-0 — but insists there's nothing personal here. For him, Garry is just the next name on the schedule.

As for the trash talk Garry is known for, Makhachev says he hasn't been paying attention. His head is in the gym. He's finishing camp at Nick Catone MMA in New Jersey, the same base he's used for his last couple of fights, with Khabib and coach Javier Mendez on hand and most of his team training alongside him. His message is simple: everything's dialed in, and he's ready to run Garry down.