It’s not winter; it’s ducking season.
Ireland’s Ian Garry returns to action this weekend (Sat., Dec. 7, 2024) against No. 1 Welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov in the co-main event of UFC 310, which goes down inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Before landing a Welterweight title eliminator fight with Rakhmonov, he was matched up with Joaquin Buckley for the last event of the year, UFC Tampa. However, it took a while for Garry to find a fight because former champion Kamaru Usman and loudmouth Colby Covington turned him down.
“So, I had many conversations back-to-back with the UFC,” Garry told Ariel Helwani. “Initially, the goal was to line up a fight with Colby Covington – again, it’s no secret he’s been running. Then they went down the line and started to look at Kamaru Usman. The words I heard from the UFC were: ‘Kamaru Usman wants nothing to do with you,’ meaning he’s also running.”
The Irish fighter explained why Usman ‘wants nothing to do’ with him.
‘Usman has a big chest and little balls,” Garry said. “He looks good. He’s got a big chest and plays the part but where it matters between the legs, he’s a little man. That’s my outlook on it. Him and Colby, they’re older, they’ve been through the division and fought guys. Now, they’re getting to the end of their careers and want to choose the better stylistic matchup.
I guarantee this,” Garry concluded. “Usman is going to try and push for a fight with Jack Della Maddalena because he saw how easy it was for Gilbert Burns to take him down. If I were in Usman’s shoes, why would I want to fight the guy who is long, rangey, and difficult to deal with? When I could fight the guy who I watched two people back-to-back be able to take him down quite easily.”
It is highly unlikely that Usman wants nothing to do with Garry. The former champion fought Khamzat Chimaev on a few days’ notice and nearly beat the undefeated freak athlete. Also, he revealed a few weeks ago that he couldn’t fight in December because it was “too early” to fight.
The Irish fighter may be correct about Usman vs. Maddalena, though …
For the rest of the UFC 310 fight card and PPV lineup click here.
