Three months ago, before Ian Garry had his next opponent set, expressed “zero interest” in a matchup against Michael “Venom” Page.
What’s changed now, with Page squarely in his sights for a UFC 303 clash Saturday in Las Vegas?
“Nothing. I have zero interest in fighting MVP,” the brash Garry told The Post during a recent video call. “I had zero interest then; I have zero interest now.”
The chief reason, Garry says, the bout came together at all was the Irishman’s single-minded desire to fight on the same card as countryman Conor McGregor, an icon to the 26-year-old welterweight who withdrew earlier this month due to a broken toe.
Instead of McGregor’s return from a three-year layoff against Michael Chandler, the event at T-Mobile Arena will be headlined by light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira defending his title against Jiri Prochazka in a rematch of their Madison Square Garden clash last November.
“That was my dream: fighting on the same card as him,” said of McGregor, “and MVP was the only person who said ‘yes.’ There was a long list of ‘nos,’ so I’m grateful MVP said yes, but I had zero interest to fight him then, and I have zero interest to fight him now.”
A more appealing matchup for Garry, who started his UFC career with a bang with a first-round knockout victory at the Garden in November 2021 and has yet to taste defeat as a pro, is the man who unsuccessfully challenged then-champion Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title in New York that same night: Colby Covington.
Covington, who does not have a fight scheduled and has yet to compete since a listless December loss to current 170-pound champion Leon Edwards, earlier this year teased a potential willingness to face Garry.
The former interim titleist has changed his tune since, however, boasting that he’s financially secure enough not to fight again and denigrating Garry’s most recent victory — a February split decision victory over Geoff Neal — and noting he would like to get healthy after saying he broke his foot early in the loss to Edwards.
“I want big fights,” Covington said on “SOSCAST w/ Adam Sosnick.” “This kid’s a nobody.”
Garry (14-0, eight finishes), who told The Post he had not heard Covington’s latest mudslinging before being informed of the crack, fired right back at the three-time undisputed title challenger.
“The truth is that is absolute bollocks. [Saying] I’m a nobody is an easy way for him to try to swerve this,” Garry retorted before mocking Covington’s reasons. “ ‘I’m trying to get healthy. He’s a no one. I’m not going to fight him.’ Listen, he has no other option right now. He has no other option. He’s not fighting anyone above him [in the UFC rankings], and I’m the highest[-ranked] guy that he can fight, that he’s going to want to stylistically fight.
“He’s not going out there and fighting a Gilbert Burns, who’s a grappler heavy, who’s amazing in jiu-jitsu. He wants a stylistic fight that is going to benefit his style of wrestling. I’m him, and he said no, and he’s running, and he’s scared. I don’t think there’s ever, ever going to be a scenario where Colby Covington accepts a fight with me anymore. I think he’s had his opportunity, he ran, and he’s too scared because he knows the truth: I, to him, am the end of this career. I, to him, am that kryptonite.”
Regardless of whether Garry’s right about a future showdown against Covington, former longtime Bellator fighter Page (22-2, 16 finishes) is the more concrete challenge in his path.
Page won his UFC debut in March, picking up a relatively clean decision victory over Kevin Holland that showcased the kickboxing skills that had him in his former promotion’s championship picture for years.
That’s not to say any of that impresses Garry; it plainly does not.
“Now, he’s coming to the UFC, which is the greatest organization in fighting, and he thinks he’s going to come into this division and do, what, win a world title? He couldn’t do it in Bellator, and he thinks he’s going to do it here,” Garry says with incredulity. “He’s not gonna touch me, and he’s not gonna touch anyone above me in the rankings.
“This is the end of his career,” he continues regarding his 37-year-old foe. “I’m … 11 years younger than him. I’m prettier than him, I’m more technical than him, and in every single which way, I’m going to outclass him, and I’m going to prove that there are levels to this game.”
There will be no gentlemen’s agreement to keep the fight standing, Garry says, but he says one thing will ensure the fight stays standing for at least a period of the fight despite what he perceives as a clear edge as the more well-rounded fighter compared to the striker Page.
“I have a massive ego, and my massive ego is gonna go out there and prove to MVP that I’m better than you, where you’re best, and we’ll see where he takes it from there,” Garry explains. “And I believe, once I show him my skill set and my ability to dominate the fight, I think we’re going to see MVP scrambling, and I think he’s gonna be very, very worried in that octagon.”