Ian Machado Garry on what it was like to train with Conor McGregor

Undefeated UFC welterweight Ian Garry (13-0) is slated to take on eighth-ranked Vicente Luque (22-9-1) on the UFC 296 main card on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.  It will be Garry’s fourth fight of the year. 

Garry is coming off an unanimous win over Neil Magny at UFC 292 in August.  Luque will enter the octagon coming off a decision win over Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Vegas 78 a week earlier in August.  

“It’s awesome.  I am excited to be back in a fight camp again.  We know that this is the fourth fight that I’ll be taking part in this year.  Consistently rolling in.  We’re rollin out, climbing the ladder, and I’m doing everything that I said I would do,” Garry told the Energized Show.

“It’s awesome.  It’s been absolutely awesome from start to now.  My career has just been to the moon, and it’s not going to stop anytime soon, but being able to be surrounded by such amazing people and have a team around me that loves the journey the way that I do and are excited by the little things like that.  That pre-fight workout in Boston, that was nuts.  Curtis, my cameraman, went there an hour before and was like, ‘this is ridiculous.  There’s too many people there, nobody’s going to be able to get in.’  I was like, perfect.  Good.  We’ll do it on the street if we have to.

“It’s just incredible.  It’s exciting.  It’s everything that I’ve wanted.  I told you guys, early on, how good I could be, and I’m showing you how good I am right now.  Everyone, you, the fans, me, we still haven’t see the full potential yet.  It’s coming.  Trust me.  The more and more and more I work, the more I travel, it’s coming soon.”  

The Irishman now trains out of the Kill Cliff FC gym in Florida and recently returned to Ireland and trained with former two-division UFC champion Conor McGregor.  

“I met the big man, got to sit down with Conor, got to chat with him, train with him.  It was the most surreal moment of my life.  The fact that we put the boxing gloves on, I look across the ring and I’m like, ‘ha ha, that’s Conor… It was such a cool moment.  I’m very, very blessed and happy that it happened.  It was a very, very exciting time,” Garry recollected.            

“It was nuts.  He sent me a message like a half an hour before, so I’m like alright.  I get up and go.  I’m going to go get some training… To be able to have the ability to train with Conor was absolutely sensational, but it was just nuts.  The feeling in the room was so cool.  Like, you knew that this would sell out a stadium but instead what we’re doing is two people that have so much respect for each other meeting up, they’re training, they’re chatting, and they’re having a laugh.  It was so incredible, and I’m forever grateful.  It was a moment that I’ll never forget.  As a fan, as someone who was in the position that I am now because of someone’s footsteps and the ability to go, he did it, why can’t I do it and to be able to sit there and chat with that guy in any way, shape, or form was incredible.” 

“I got to see the best to ever do it, and to feel his striking and his power, his awkwardness, and it was absolutely incredible.  It just makes me more excited for when he comes back.”

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“Conor’s a ridiculously intelligent man when it comes to the work inside the octagon and the work outside the octagon.  There’s no one in the world ever going to deny that.  He’s super successful in both aspects.  I’m doing it my way as well.  I’ve got an amazing team surrounding me, and to be able to just sit there and chat with him about little things was awesome.  To be able to sit down and listen to someone that’s so smart, so intelligent, and so successful was awesome.”

“I mean, here’s the thing with me, and I said this to Conor himself.  The money is not an issue for me.  That’s not what I’m in this sport for.  I said, ‘I’m in this sport for legacy.  I want to be considered as the best to ever do it.’  Everyone has opinions, but I at least want my name in the hat.  If someone’s bring up the GOAT of the sport, my name has to be in it.  

“And he’s like, ‘You can do both.’  That’s what I thought was cool because I get it.  I hear you.  I understand it, but people talk about money, money, money.  Conor’s been so phenomenal that he did both.  The first ever to win two world titles at the same time.  The double-champ, the original double-champ.  And then you go out and have all the success in the world, doing all the sponsorship deals, opening up his own club, coming out with his whiskey, all of this.  He’s just an incredible business man.  So, for him to do both is exactly the type of success that I want to have.”