Ian Garry Reveals He’s Agreed to Fight Michael Page at UFC 303

Ian Garry claims to be game enough to fight down the rankings.

Garry has long since been calling out Colby Covington, who has avoided the matchup so far. Garry has now given up hopes of fighting “Chaos,” whom the Irishman claims will be sidelined until September due to an injury. Garry also claims to have no other options of fighting higher-ranked opponents with everyone ranked above him either injured or already engaged elsewhere.

However, eager to stay active, “The Future” has now shifted focus to Michael Page. While the UFC’s return to Manchester would make sense for the potential matchup, Garry insists on being a part of UFC 303 on June 29 which will be headlined by the return of Conor McGregor against Michael Chandler.

“I’ve said yes. I’ve said yes to that name. Him and his coaches are deciding because he feels a bit heavy, he’s a bit heavy to make weight in seven weeks’ time, but I’ve said yes,” Garry told talkSPORT about a potential clash against Page.

According to Garry, “Venom” is not the only name he has been offered and has accepted recently. The undefeated prospect claims to have accepted offers to fight Covington, Sean Brady and the winner of last week’s UFC on ESPN 56 co-headliner between Joaquin Buckley and Nursulton Ruziboev.

“There’s been so many at this point, you kind of lose count,” Garry said. “I feel like I’ve gone through about eight or nine names. And it’s like, ‘No, don’t want that fight. Not interested. The UFC are saying they’re not interested.’ They’ve offered me Colby. I said yes to MVP. I said yes to Sean Brady. I said yes to, I don’t even know his name, the Uzbekistani guy [Nursulton Ruziboev] if he had won [against Joaquin Buckley]. I said yes to Joaquin Buckley. I’ve said yes to every single person that has come my way. That is what I do and since I’ve entered the UFC, I’ve done nothing different. I say, ‘Yes.’ I say, ‘What date? Where? And when?”

Garry is currently undefeated in seven UFC outings and fresh off a split-decision win over veteran Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in February. Meanwhile, Page made his promotional debut with a unanimous decision win over Kevin Holland at UFC 299 in March.

While Garry was able to maintain his perfect record against Neal, the fight was considered somewhat lackluster by many. The 26-year-old Irishman has a different assessment of that performance.

“Clinical. Geoff Neal is a dog, right? In my mind, he is the hardest pound-for-pound hitter in the division,” Garry said. “He has the most power on his hands. And when you’re fighting someone like him who solely relies on that one punch boom power, you have to give it all the respect that it deserves. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s tough, he’s physical. But he’s nowhere near as quick as me, he’s nowhere as intelligent as me, my footwork was incredible for that fight, my combinations to shock him and freeze him, the knees, the elbows, the knee-elbow combination to get him reaching and extending, to crack him with that knee and hopefully slice him with that elbow. I believe I dominated that fight entirely.”