Ian Machado Garry settled with Michael Page as an opponent for UFC 303.
Garry (14-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) had aspirations of fighting Colby Covington next, but wound up drawing Page (22-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a welterweight bout June 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, which streams on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
“MVP” is ranked seven spots below Garry in the UFC’s welterweight standings.
“I wasn’t remotely interested in this fight, I’m not going to lie,” Garry said in an interview with Lucky Block. “I was looking for a top-five opponent, but there was no one available above me to fight. So now I had no choice if I wanted to fight.
“But to look down and go, ‘Who’s the biggest name? Who’s the biggest test that UFC fans want to see me go up against?’ – everyone was saying Michael Page, then that’s the one guy to make it happen with. But I wasn’t remotely interested in fighting him.”
Garry is out to prove that he’s far superior to Page in all facets of MMA. He recently pushed for their fight to be a five-round co-main event.
“I believe I’m levels above him in every single way, shape and form, and this is just an opportunity to show it, to prove it to people,” Garry said. “I can go, ‘You guys think this guy is good?’ OK, let’s see when he shows up on June 29 in Las Vegas. Let’s see when we stand in that octagon, I’ll use him as an example.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 303.
