UFC star Ian Machado Garry is plotting his return to the octagon for late-February or early-March of next year after an extended break from competition.
The Irish prospect is undefeated at 10-0, and has had a whirlwind few years since turning professional as recently as the start of 2019. He became Cage Warriors champion at just 23, and was signed to the UFC where he competed three times within eight months of his debut for the promotion.
However, he took some time away from the cage as he and his TV host wife Layla welcomed their firstborn into the world; Leandro, back in October. He has been in the UK with his wife and her family for the past few weeks, and has recently started training again for a return to action at Team Renegade where UFC champion Leon Edwards learned his craft.
"I'll fight again in the new year," Garry told Mirror Fighting in an exclusive chat after a session with the community outreach programme Gloves Not Gunz in London. "I don't know when, but it'll be early, I'd like an end of February, March return to the octagon.
"I am in no rush, I'm getting back into the flow of training and fixing bad habits, perfecting my best tools because I'm itching to get into that octagon, I cannot wait. We went through this whole year, this new journey and everything that I'm looking forward to is going to be special and there's a lot I have to prove this year to myself and to everyone else. You don't stop proving people wrong."
Garry spent his first three fights living and training in Florida, where he trained at Kill Cliff MMA, formerly known as Sanford. But he insists that he wants to travel the world and learn from a variety of different coaches, particularly given his familial ties to Brazil where a number of MMA champions have been made.
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"I'm very lucky that I am a nomadic fighter," Garry explained. "I am blessed that I have so many connections. You can train MMA anywhere in the world, whether you speak the same language as someone or not, it's a universal language of 'okay, let's fight, let's train'.
"Obviously there's plans that I'd love to do, plans that I want to do, I believe that the best place for me to spar and get fight ready is Kill Cliff FC and to have the knowledge of Henri Hooft and Jason Straut is sensational. However, I don't want to live in America any more, I want to travel so to go there prior to a fight makes so much sense.
"But I want to buy a home, make sure that my family is safe and secure and has that safe space. I want to travel to Brazil and meet my family in Brazil, go to New Zealand and train with Adesanya and pick his brain. I want to train with Wonderboy [Stephen Thompson] and pick his brain.
"I want to travel the world and see all these amazing fighters, trainers, coaches, everyone. That will give me the best opportunity to be the best fighter that I can be. I'd f***ing love to fight in Brazil, but that's just a little bit too early."
Ian Machado Garry was speaking as an ambassador for Gloves not Gunz. To learn more about the initiative, you can visit their website by clicking here.
