Ian Machado Garry was greeted with a wall of boos from the Philadelphia crowd at the UFC 330 pre-fight press conference, but the welterweight title challenger insists the same fans could be cheering his name by Saturday night.
Garry faces Islam Makhachev in the UFC 330 main event Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena, with the Irishman challenging for his first UFC championship. The reception at Thursday’s press conference, however, was anything but welcoming.
From the moment Garry grabbed the microphone, the Philadelphia crowd repeatedly drowned him out with boos. Rather than allowing the reaction to get under his skin, “The Future” embraced the hostility and predicted that the atmosphere would look very different after he gets his hands raised.
Saturday night that belt’s wrapped around my waist and every single one of you is going to change,” Garry shouted. “It’s going to be ‘Let’s go Garry’ chants, I love you, too.
“The Future” later insisted that the reception meant nothing to him, pointing to his family and the opportunity in front of him as his only concerns.
“I couldn’t give a f*ck,” Garry said. “I couldn’t care less. My little boy is here laughing and smiling and making faces. I’m living the dream.”
The 17-1 contender then reflected on the dream that brought him to this point.
“I dreamt of this moment when I was a 16-year-old kid. I dreamt of being a UFC fighter. I dreamt of having the ability to fight for a UFC world title,” Garry said. “This weekend on Aug. 15 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, all of my dreams come true, and nobody can take that away from me.”
Makhachev, meanwhile, received thunderous cheers before offering his own explanation for the Irishman’s hostile reception.
“Nobody likes Ian Garry, myself also,” Makhachev said. “Because people are confused which country you represent. Brazil or Ireland?”
