SÃO PAULO — Ian Machado Garry is enjoying life in São Paulo after scoring his seventh straight octagon victory, a unanimous decision over Geoff Neal at UFC 298.
But make no mistake about it: “The Future” has a target in mind, and that is Colby Covington.
Garry went to Tiro Certo Golfe studio in São Paulo to play — or more accurately, teach — indoor golf with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz and chat about his next UFC move. Garry hopes to land a date with Covington at UFC 303, which is set for June 29 in Las Vegas.
“Look, if Colby wants to fight in his back garden tomorrow, I will fly to Miami and fight him in his back garden,” Garry said. “I don’t care when it is. I just want him as the opponent. I want him to be a man and step into the octagon and face his fears. Face the man who he’s talked a lot of s*** about, and watch what happens when you get in there. God will be good. He will give me Colby Covington whenever, wherever I want him, and he will say, ‘Ian, have fun.’”
Covington most recently came up short against welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December 2023 in his third unsuccessful shot at the undisputed title. It was Covington’s first bout since defeating Jorge Masvidal via decision in March 2022.
“I want to fight him because of the following he has, the respect on his name as one of the better fighters in this division and has been for a long time,” Garry said. “I want to fight him because of all the s*** that he has talked about me and my family, and I’m going to make sure that he regrets every word he’s said. But I also know that even if it was the best Colby Covington we ever seen, he would never stand a chance against me. No matter how good Colby Covington ever could be or would be, he would never be able to beat me. I’m too elite. I’m too fast. I’m too technically brilliant. He just doesn’t stand a chance.
“I don’t think the guy deserves any respect in the world, to be honest with you. The s*** he talks … I’ll step into that octagon, and I’ll retire him. That’s my goal. My whole goal to when I fight Colby Covington is that he never puts on MMA gloves ever again.”
The Irish talent would love to fight in Brazil and believes that will one day happen, especially now that he trains at Chute Boxe in São Paulo.
But asking Covington to face him in Brazil would likely lead only to frustration.
“I don’t think Colby Covington wants to come back to Rio after all the s*** he said last time he was in Brazil versus Demian [Maia],” said Garry, referring to when Covington beat Demian Maia in São Paulo and then bashed the country in his post-win speech. “I think he’ll stay away. I think he’d end up dead. That’s the truth, I think he’d end up dead. I think there’s no way that happens, because Colby is too much of a b****. But I will fight in Brazil one day, and I will be so happy to put on the yellow shorts and be the main event in Brazil, and I’ll carry the Irish flag on one shoulder and the Brazilian flag on the other.”
It’s still unclear if the UFC plans to book Garry vs. Covington in the near term. But the undefeated Irish nonetheless issued a final warning to the former interim champion.
“You don’t deserve to be here,” Garry said. “You don’t deserve to be at the top of the division anymore. I’m going tot retire you. All of Brazil is going to have a smile on their face when I knock you unconscious and leave you in a puddle of your own blood, face down on the canvas. Colby, you’re done. Fala tchau. [Say bye.]”
