Jun 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Ian Machado Garry (red gloves) fights Michael Page (blue gloves) during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
(Reuters) - Conor McGregor may have been absent at UFC 303 due to injury, but Irish fans still had a compatriot to cheer for in undefeated welterweight Ian Machado Garry, who beat Englishman Michael Page by unanimous decision on Saturday.
Garry (15-0) leveraged his superior grappling against Page's high-movement striking game, taking him down and controlling the action on the ground for much of the fight.
"The key to beating Michael 'Venom' Page was patience," Garry told reporters after becoming the second UFC welterweight to win his first eight fights since joining the organisation following former champion Kamaru Usman.
"I frustrated him. I snaked-charmed a snake-charmer. (Page) likes people to do that dance with him, to move, to keep that flow, the rhythm. And he works well off that rhythm, that timing. I hit him with stealth mode," he added.
Garry, the No. 7 contender in the division below champion Leon Edwards, said he was particularly interested in facing Shavkat Rakhmonov (18-0), the unbeaten number-three contender who has finished every opponent so far.
"That fight excites me so much," Garry said. "Shavkat's incredibly talented. I have nothing but respect for the guy... it's purely out of, I don't want anyone else to beat him before me.
"I am on my road to destiny, to be one of the greatest of all time. I'm going to do that by any means necessary, and I don't care how it gets done. In 10 years' time, my name is going to be in that GOAT (greatest of all time) conversation," he added.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Purulia, India; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
