Ian Garry — now fighting under the name Ian Machado Garry — is an Irish professional mixed martial artist competing in the UFC's welterweight division. A former Cage Warriors champion from Dublin, he arrived in the UFC unbeaten, strung together six straight wins against increasingly tough opposition, and established himself as one of the most talked-about young fighters on the roster before suffering the first loss of his professional career against Shavkat Rakhmonov in December 2024.
If you've seen his name trending around fight cards or heard debates about his potential, here's a full picture of who he is, how he fights, and what has shaped his career so far.
Ian Garry at a Glance
- Born: November 17, 1997, in Dublin, Ireland
- Division: Welterweight (170 lbs)
- Nickname: "The Future"
- Fighting out of: Originally Dublin (SBG Ireland); later Brazil (Chute Boxe Diego Lima)
- Background: Karate-influenced striking, developed into a well-rounded MMA game
- Career highlight: Cage Warriors welterweight champion; UFC wins over Neil Magny, Vicente Luque, and Michael Page
- First professional loss: Shavkat Rakhmonov, UFC 310, December 2024
From Dublin to the Cage
Garry grew up in County Dublin during the era when Conor McGregor's rise was transforming Irish martial arts culture. He took up combat sports young, with karate forming the foundation of the movement and striking style that later made him stand out. By his late teens he was training seriously at SBG Ireland, the Dublin gym where John Kavanagh had built the program behind McGregor's ascent.
What separated Garry early on was confidence bordering on bravado. He began calling himself "The Future" while still climbing the regional circuit — a label that drew mockery from some fans and, eventually, became part of his brand.
Cage Warriors Champion
Garry turned professional in 2019 and quickly worked his way through the Cage Warriors welterweight division, the same promotion that served as a proving ground for McGregor before the UFC. In June 2021, he captured the Cage Warriors welterweight title by defeating Jack Grant, remaining undefeated in the process.
The title run made him one of the most sought-after prospects in European MMA. In 2022, the UFC came calling.
The UFC Run
Garry made his promotional debut in November 2022 and knocked out Jordan Williams in the first round. From there, the UFC escalated his competition quickly — a sign of how highly the organization rated him:
- Song Kenan (March 2023): Garry wore his opponent down and finished him by TKO in the third round.
- Daniel Rodriguez (May 2023): A clear unanimous decision over a durable, heavy-handed veteran.
- Neil Magny (August 2023, UFC 292): A methodical decision win over one of the division's most reliable gatekeepers. Beating Magny convincingly moved Garry into genuine ranking territory.
- Vicente Luque (December 2023, UFC 296): Another decision victory, this time over a dangerous finisher with far more UFC experience.
- Michael "Venom" Page (June 2024, UFC 303): Arguably his signature win. Page is one of the trickiest strikers in the sport, and Garry outscored him over three rounds in a fight that tested his timing, discipline, and patience.
That streak put him at 15-0 and positioned him near the top of a stacked welterweight division.
The momentum stalled briefly in late 2024, when Garry was hospitalized with pneumonia and forced to withdraw from a scheduled fight with Joaquin Buckley.
The Rakhmonov Fight: First Loss, Real Answers
At UFC 310 in December 2024, Garry stepped in on short notice to face Shavkat Rakhmonov — the undefeated Kazakh contender who had been slated to challenge for the title before champion Belal Muhammad withdrew through injury. Garry accepted a five-round co-main event against the most feared grappler in the division with only weeks to prepare.
He lost a unanimous decision. Rakhmonov's constant grappling pressure and physical strength neutralized much of Garry's movement and volume, and while Garry showed toughness in surviving five rounds without being finished, the fight exposed the gap between him and the division's absolute elite at that point.
The loss mattered less for the defeat itself and more for what it clarified: Garry's striking craft is elite, but wrestling defense against a top-tier grappler remained the biggest question mark in his game.
How He Fights
Garry's style is built on a karate-influenced striking framework, which makes him unusual in a division dominated by orthodox boxers and wrestlers:
- Range management: At around 6'3" with a long frame, he fights at distances most welterweights can't reach, using straight punches and kicks from the outside.
- Movement: In-and-out footwork and angular entries let him land and exit before opponents can respond — the trait that made the Page fight so competitive.
- Volume and variety: He mixes kicks, jabs, and combinations rather than relying on one-shot power.
- Developing grappling: His takedown defense improved steadily during his unbeaten run, though Rakhmonov showed the ceiling still exists.
His limitations are the flip side of his strengths: fighting long can leave him vulnerable to fighters who close distance relentlessly, and he hasn't displayed one-punch knockout power against elite opposition.
The Name Change and Life Outside the Octagon
One of the most searched aspects of Garry's story is his name. In early 2024, he began competing as Ian Machado Garry, adding the surname of his wife, Layla Anna-Lee, a British TV presenter. He has framed the change as a statement about family unity, and it has become part of his official fighting identity.
His personal life has also attracted an unusual amount of online scrutiny. Garry and his wife became targets of persistent trolling and harassment — including invasive claims about their relationship and family — which he has publicly denied and condemned. The situation contributed to a major career decision: Garry relocated his training from SBG Ireland to Chute Boxe Diego Lima in Brazil, the camp also known for Charles Oliveira. He cited the hostile environment in Ireland and the need for privacy as key reasons for the move, while also pointing to the high-level training partners available in Brazil.
The relocation was a risk — leaving the gym and coach that developed him — but it signaled how seriously he treats the remaining gaps in his game.
Where He Stands Now
Garry rebounded from the Rakhmonov loss in April 2025, defeating the dangerous knockout artist Carlos Prates by unanimous decision in the main event of a UFC Fight Night card in Kansas City. The win restored his record to 16-1 and kept him firmly in the welterweight title conversation, and he later served as a backup fighter for the UFC 315 welterweight title bout between Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena.
The division's landscape shifts quickly — title changes, injuries, and new contenders constantly reshuffle the queue — so his exact position changes from month to month. What remains constant is his standing as one of the youngest, most marketable, and most skilled strikers in the welterweight top ten, with a clear path back to a title shot if he keeps winning.
The Bottom Line
Ian Garry's career is a study in rapid ascent under intense scrutiny. He went from Cage Warriors champion to UFC contender in under three years, absorbed the first professional loss against arguably the hardest matchup in the division, and responded with a solid win over another rising contender. Whether "The Future" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy depends largely on one thing: proving his grappling can hold up against the division's very best. The tools and the trajectory are there — the next few fights will determine the rest.