UFC 303: Ian Machado Garry is the ‘fake Conor McGregor’ who could upset della Maddalena’s title hopes

He’s loud, brash and Irish, and Ian Garry could be on a collision course with an Aussie favourite.

3 min read

June 28, 2024 - 2:00PM

Garcia stripped of win and banned for 12 months

Conor McGregor is out of UFC 303, but there’s another brash, outspoken Irishman ready to steal the limelight.

And Ian Machado Garry, who faces the toughest task of his career against Michael ‘Venom’ Page at UFC 303 this weekend, could derail Jack Della Maddalena’s path towards the welterweight world title.

UFC 303: PEREIRA VS PROCHAZKA 2 | SUN 30 JUNE 12PM AEST | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports. Main Event on Kayo Sports and Foxtel is the exclusive home of UFC Pay-Per-View.

Della Maddalena is ranked fifth, with Garry seventh, but an impressive performance could propel the Irishman into the top five.

Meanwhile, ‘Della’ has been forced out of his scheduled UFC 305 number one contender bout with the third ranked Shavkat Rakhmonov due to complications following surgery, and Garry is adamant he’ll be fighting for the title in exactly 12 months’ time.

Garry has been labelled a “fake Conor McGregor”. Picture: Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

That’s the kind of brash approach that has seen Garry be compared to McGregor.

Just don’t tell him he’s a clone of his more famous countryman.

“Anyone saying I’m trying to be like Conor McGregor, I take that as a compliment,” Garry said this week. “He’s the greatest star this sport has ever seen.

“If you’re comparing me to him, it means I’m doing something right.

“I’m not trying to be like him, but have I been inspired by him? Absolutely.

“How many people talked about Kobe Bryant trying to be like Michael Jordan? Kobe Bryant went out and made a legacy of his own in his own way, but having similar traits and style to Michael Jordan.”

Garry defeated Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in February. Picture: Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

For everything they share, Garry says he’s on his own path to stardom.

“My job is to continue what I’m doing in my journey and to the destiny I have been set,” he said. “And at the end of it, people will say, ‘Wow, this kid is special, he did it his own way’.

“That’s the way I look at it.”

Which, sooner or later, makes a fight between him and Della Maddalena all but inevitable.

“Ian Garry, he’s a guy I’ll fight at some point,” Della Maddalena told this masthead in March. “I don’t think it’ll be soon, but we’ll cross paths at some point over the next few years.

“But if they offered it, I’d take it.”

Jack della Maddalena is within touching distance of a welterweight world title shot. Picture: Getty Images

Of course, none of that means anything to Garry’s opponent this weekend.

An English kickboxing superstar who made his name in Bellator, Page debuted in the UFC in March, and says Garry is a “fake Conor McGregor”.

“I understand the inspiration, but trying to do exactly what he (McGregor) does is fake,” Page said. “Your personality may not be like that, which is why people are not resonating with you.

“People love Conor, he has a massive fanbase. People hate you.

“And that’s because we can tell when it’s not authentic. It’s not authentic with Garry, therefore he’s the fake Conor McGregor.”

Garry didn’t have much time for Page’s comments.

MVP (R) is one of the most exciting kickboxers on the planet. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Instead, he needs to put on an electrifying performance for the thousands of travelling Irish fans who bought tickets, flights and hotels to watch McGregor before ‘The Notorious’ pulled out with injury.

“Listen, if the Irish say they’re gonna do something, they’re gonna do it,” he said. “Do you think an Irishman’s going, ‘Oh, I’ll cancel my flight to Vegas, I won’t go on a bender, I’ll just stay at home’?