Welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry may be one fight away from a title shot. That’s what he believes.
Garry (16-1) takes on former champion and top contender Belal Muhammad (24-4, 1 NC) in the UFC Qatar co-main event on Nov. 22. A win over Muhammad leads to a title fight, according to Garry.
“When you knockout No. 1 in the world, there is nothing else. When you knockout a former champion and he was No. 1 in the world right now and you smash him in less rounds than JDM (Jack Della Maddalena) could, then that’s all that matters to me. I know I’m getting a world title fight after this” Garry said on The Ariel Helwani Show.
“The Future” doesn’t just want to defeat Muhammad when the two meet inside Ali Bin Hamad al-Attiyah Arena. He intends to make a statement against the former champion.
“I would like to think it’s not going to get past the second,” Garry said. “I want to finish him. I want to make it violent. I want to put that exclamation mark on it like I am the best welterweight on the planet right now. … I want everybody to see come Nov. 22 that I’m the best welterweight walking the planet.”
Related: Mike Tyson never considered fighting in UFC due to pay
“I’m going to finish Belal Muhammad. That is my goal. That is my single one focus of this fight is I want to go out there and leave it unquestionable that I’m the single greatest welterweight walking the planet,” continued Garry.
Garry last fought in April, defeating Carlos Prates via unanimous decision after accepting the bout on short notice. With the win, he rebounded from his first career loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in his previous outing.
Muhammad lost the 170-pound championship in his last fight to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315.