McGregor Backs Ian Machado Garry to Dethrone Makhachev at UFC 330

Conor McGregor thinks his countryman is walking out of UFC 330 with gold. In an Instagram video, the former two-division champ picked Ian Machado Garry to upset Islam Makhachev in Saturday's welterweight title main event — a bold call given Garry sits as a sizable underdog against the man most rate as the best pound-for-pound fighter alive.

Garry brings a 17-1 record and the division's No. 1 ranking into the fight, riding momentum off a unanimous-decision win over Belal Muhammad. Makhachev, meanwhile, is chasing history in a second weight class. McGregor isn't buying the narrative that this is a formality for the champion.

The Pick

McGregor pointed to Garry's length, his work at SBG in Dublin, and a game plan built around staying safe and staying in the fight. He argued Makhachev has stretches where he stalls and "still has things to prove" at 170 pounds, even if the champion looks more comfortable at the weight than before. His verdict was blunt: he believes Garry can do it, and does it in style.

As for the finish, McGregor got specific — a right high kick across the crown of the head, late in the fight. He said this one goes deep into the championship rounds before Garry gets the job done. Rooting interest, sure, but he framed it as a genuine read on a "cracking contest."

The Subtext

There's history worth flagging here. McGregor's long-running feud with Khabib Nurmagomedov — Makhachev's mentor and training partner — hangs over any prediction he makes involving that camp. Whether that's coloring his optimism is anyone's guess, but it's the obvious thread you can't ignore.

The wider talk heading into UFC 330 has been muted, with plenty of observers already looking past Garry to what's next for Makhachev. That's the exact scenario the challenger has spent his career trying to flip on its head. If McGregor's read holds, Saturday reshapes the entire welterweight picture. If it doesn't, it's another loud prediction that didn't land — and there have been a few of those lately.