Ian Machado Garry: From Window Cleaner to UFC World Title Contender (E425)

**Ian Machado Garry** (0:03)
Being the next Conor McGregor is not a fucking plan. Wrote down, on words, on a piece of paper, a 16 year old, Ian Garry, who was sat in bed on his laptop watching highlights. That's what I want to do. I want to do that. I made my UFC debut at MSG when I was 23 It's a bloody beautiful, violent sport.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:23)
This year, a kick from Garry.

**Jake Humphrey** (0:25)
This is going to be a deep up.

**SPEAKER_2** (0:26)
Covers up Ian Machado Garry.

**Ian Machado Garry** (0:29)
I want to fight Islam Makhachev for the world title. When I beat him, it is undeniable that I am great. The future is inevitable. I'm going to say something that I think a lot of people wouldn't expect, but I feel like the 1% is by doing less.

**Jake Humphrey** (0:42)
What do you say to those people that believe that Islam can win?
Even in the 90s, early 2000s, they had no voice. So if the media decided you were a certain way or you were a certain person, there was no opportunity, because the only way to tell a different story was through the media, who didn't want to tell a different story. There was no social, there was no opportunity. Whereas now, the narrative control that Atheleet has now, I think is so good for you.

**Ian Machado Garry** (1:10)
I think that's what the power of social media has brought, it's control. I feel like from my end and from my experience, I've controlled a lot of my outcomes of my life due to my social media and my presence online being so strong. Because what I've gotten the fights, I've gotten if I didn't have the name I had. What I've gotten, what I've changed my family's life, the way I have if I didn't have the social media in regards to like pay an outcome and just general online kind of push, like in the fan's point of view, I feel like it's had a massive impact on my life and I hate it. I don't use it that much, do you know what I mean? But I feel like the fans love it. It hypes the fans up for fights.
There's an element I love about controlling it, so that I can control the narrative of what people see. That's what matters most. Because if I do an interview with someone and it's for a media outlet, they can spin it whatever way they want. They can write the headline, they can control it all, because the second I say goodbye, it's out of my control.
On my Instagram, on my social media, I can control everything. I can control what the caption is, what I'm saying, what I look like, what my family looks like, and just make sure that I'm giving the most true and honest version of me.

**Jake Humphrey** (2:47)
Yeah.

**Ian Machado Garry** (2:47)
And nobody can spin that. So that's what I love.

**Jake Humphrey** (2:49)
Do you think that getting this fight against Islam Makhachev, do you think you've helped to make that happen aside from just being a great fighter?

**Ian Machado Garry** (2:58)
I believe, so I know I've earned this fight from fighting, but I absolutely know that my online presence has helped funnel fans into the same mindset. Because I've earned it. There's no doubt that I've earned it. I beat the former champion. My reward for winning this fight means my next fight is a guy I already beat on three weeks notice. That's my reward. That's my next opponent. Does that make sense? After Makhachev. After Makhachev, when I beat him, my reward is you have to fight a guy again that you already beat on three weeks notice.
I've earned the fight. I went in and I beat him by three rounds. Dominated me, couldn't take me down. The whole point of his game was he couldn't take me down. It's a guy who trained with Islam.
So afterwards, I dropped this epic, leaving the octagon. There's a video of it. It's great. I dropped this epic. A guy actually handed me in the stand. He had like a massive leprechaun hat. So I took it off of him in the stands, put it on my head.
And then I was like, Islam, he couldn't stop me. He couldn't take me down. Went through this whole kind of, I just dropped an epic promo for the fight. I was like, so it's your job, your duty. Show up, fight the best contender in the world. And you're looking at him. Ian Machado Garry, it was wild. It was epic. It's just like, you can control the narrative, which I love. I think that's epic.