Ian Machado Garry and Michael Page have had a rollercoaster of respect levels displayed during the build to their UFC 303 clash Saturday.
Initially complimentary, things got a little more trash talk-oriented at Wednesday’s media day. Thursday, things went to another level at the pre-fight news conference as Garry (14-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) accused Page (22-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) of attempting to acquire training information in exchange for money.
“I’ve already broke this man’s confidence down so much,” Garry said. “He knows. I don’t have to say what I’m talking about. You know exactly what I’m on about. Your self-confidence is f*cked. You know what I’m talking about. It will come out. It will come out kid, but your brain is f*cking screaming for excuses.”
Page smiled and picked up the microphone, but before a full sentence came out, Garry verbally challenged him further.
“Did you and your team offer thousands of dollars to get information in Chute Boxe from my boys?” Garry said. “Did you send someone a message and offer thousands for information. And you couldn’t infiltrate the camp. You couldn’t get into it. The Chute Boxe family is too tight. Your little rat jiu-jitsu coach offered money to one of my Brazilian friends and you got nothing. Saturday night, you’re f*cked.”
Page didn’t deny the allegations and didn’t really acknowledge them, though he smiled as Garry ranted. Garry said Page and his coach would be suspended.
“All I know is you’re suspended after this fight,” Garry said. “You’re never fighting again after this fight. You and your jiu-jitsu coach are getting suspended for life.”
Page responded, “Shut the f*ck up.”
The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) statutes of unarmed combat do not appear to specifically reference training camp spying as a violation, so it remains unclear if he was making a reference to a medical suspension, a disciplinary suspension, or something else.
Regardless of what Garry was talking about, a backstage video of the two fighters showed a much different demeanor than the one on stage. Garry and Page shared a pleasant moment with Garry’s young son, in a moment captured by UFC broadcast partner ESPN.
Ian Machado Garry’s son met Michael “Venom” Page after the presser #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/JHnyK1U81r
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 27, 2024
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.
