Ian Garry had a pretty good showing, but ultimately lost a decision at UFC 330 against Islam Makhachev, who has been breaking records across two divisions. Garry had his moments on the feet, and showed excellent takedown defense and reversals on the ground, but Dana White felt it was the challenger’s mindset that could’ve cost him the fight.
“This is my honest opinion. I felt like tonight was set up for the upset,” White said at the UFC 330 post-fight press conference. “Ian is a talented guy, if he had even an ounce of killer instinct — in that fifth round he was beating him to the body. Islam’s whole right side was beat up. His face was beat up. You don’t come out and hug and shake hands. F— that shit drives me crazy!
“This is one of those fights that Ian will go back and say ‘f—k, I wish I could do that over again.’ If he came out and tried to destroy and win that last round with everything he had, it’s a totally different fight.”
Garry remained cordial with Makhachev throughout the build up and even during the fight itself, where he offered high fives, fist bumps, and friendly pats on every break. White criticized this approach while Garry was trying to upset one of the all-time greats.
“I think Ian is a classy guy, is what I think. He always shows class, before the fight he goes over and shakes all their corners’ hands. It’s great, but when that f—ng bell rings, you’ve got to switch all that off and go,” White exlaimed. “You definitely got to do it in the fifth round.
“You don’t shake the GOAT’s hand in the fifth round. You go out to f—ng annihilate him. That just has to be your mindset… in my humble opinion.”
White’s point is understandable, but outside of a late KO, it’s worth noting how winning the fifth round wouldn’t have changed the result. The official scorecards had Makhachev winning three of the first four rounds on two judges’ accounts, so even if the fifth round was changed to a 10-9, or even a rare 10-8 for Garry, he still wouldn’t be going home with the belt.
Garry did well in long stretches on the feet, but his fate was pretty much sealed even before the fifth round. I’d argue that more than just “mindset,” it’s his overall lack of striking volume and activity that didn’t help his case, as judges didn’t see enough to outweigh Islam’s wrestling on multiple close rounds.
Garry clearly lost the second round due to the knockdown, but in the third, the sole round unanimously scored for him, he attempted 25 significant strikes from distance. In the first, fourth and fifth rounds, Garry threw just 2, 7 and 9 times. A lot of that was Makhachev and even his mere threat of a takedown, but Garry spent stretches on the feet throwing effective albeit singular rear kicks without follow ups, which ultimately cost him key rounds.
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