Ian Machado Garry arrived in Doha with a straightforward mission: defeat Belal Muhammad and present an undeniable case for a welterweight title shot. He accomplished both, securing a unanimous decision on November 22, 2025, at UFC Qatar that elevated him to the number two ranking at 170 pounds.
Ian Machado Garry Wants P4P great Islam Makhachev
In a post-fight callout directed at champion Islam Makhachev, the 28-year-old Irishman declared the path to silencing every critic. “When I beat him, I will have beaten the greatest pound-for-pound fighter on the planet right now. When I beat Islam Makhachev and I win the world title, there will be no excuses from anyone anywhere on the planet.”
Garry‘s statement centers on Makhachev’s status as the consensus number one pound-for-pound fighter. The Russian fighter earned that ranking following his dominance over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 on November 16, 2025, where he won the welterweight championship in decisive fashion, controlling Della Maddalena on the ground for 18 of 25 minutes. The victory also tied Anderson Silva’s UFC record for consecutive wins at 16, making Makhachev’s current streak one of the most significant achievements in modern MMA.
The timing of Garry’s callout is calculated. Just one week prior, Carlos Prates had knocked out former champion Leon Edwards in the second round, and Michael Morales finished Sean Brady in under a round. Both fighters staked claims to title contention, creating a logjam at 170 pounds. Shavkat Rakhmonov, who handed Garry his only professional loss in December 2024 at UFC 310, has been sidelined for over a year with injuries, effectively removing the undefeated fighter from the title picture despite his superior record over Garry.
This positioning leaves Garry as arguably the most active top contender with recent credentials. His victory over Muhammad, the former champion at 170 pounds, carries more historical weight than Morales’s win over Brady or Prates’s victory over Edwards, both of whom have lost recently.
Makhachev‘s pound-for-pound ranking is legitimate by any measure. Beyond his 16-fight winning streak and two-division championship status, he demonstrated technical superiority and adaptability in his welterweight debut against Della Maddalena. The conventional view holds that beating the consensus P4P number one would eliminate any lingering questions about a fighter’s elite status.
Makhachev himself acknowledged the weight of such an achievement when he discussed moving to welterweight last year: “If he had ascended to fight Belal, he would have been a 5-to-1 favorite. But against Jack? The odds are even. This guy is phenomenal.”
When asked about Garry’s callout, Makhachev offered a calm assessment rather than dismissal. Speaking to media on November 25, 2025, the champion described Garry as “a good fighter” on a “nice streak” who “is young” and will be “intriguing.” Makhachev added he wasn’t surprised by the callout and made clear his door remains open, though not exclusively. He expressed interest in potentially facing former champion Kamaru Usman.
The welterweight division entering 2026 resembles few other UFC weight classes. Makhachev represents historical dominance, a two-time defending champion with a 16-fight win streak who recently transitioned to a new weight class without losing effectiveness. Below him sits a tier of fighters capable of competing with him on any given night: Garry (ranking 2), Michael Morales (recent knockout finisher), Carlos Prates (another knockout finisher), Rakhmonov (undefeated but inactive), and the ghost of Kamaru Usman’s legacy.
