This past Saturday night in the main event of UFC Kansas City, we saw a big time matchup in the welterweight division. Two men were looking to punch their ticket to title contention as Ian Machado Garry (16-1) took on the extremely dangerous Carlos Prates (21-7).
Machado Garry was coming off a close loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov while Prates had gone 4-0 inside the octagon with four knockouts. Both men had a lot to prove in this one and they were both looking to make a statement. For the first three rounds, that statement was made by Machado Garry.
Machado Garry was outclassing Prates for the first three rounds. A beautiful combination of speed, movement, and combinations flustered Prates. Prates wasn’t throwing much in the first three rounds and that could be his hesitancy due to this being his first main event and he didn’t want to gas out, but I give the credit to everything Machado Garry was doing.
In the fourth round, Prates started to come on a bit and he felt more comfortable. In the fifth, he started landing big shots and Machado Garry looked a little tired. Machado Garry shot for a takedown with about 90 seconds left and Prates ended up on top. From there, he rained down heavy shots and looked moments away from stopping it. However, Machado Garry survived and picked up the decision win at UFC Kansas City.
What’s next after UFC Kansas City?
Say what you want about Ian Machado Garry, but the man shows up and he’s willing to fight anyone. Nobody wanted to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov yet Machado Garry took that fight on shorter notice. Not many wanted to fight the dangerous Carlos Prates, Machado Garry took this main event on short notice.
He’s proving to the UFC that he’s their man when it comes to needing a welterweight who is always going to say yes to a fight. In the post-fight press conference, Machado Garry made it clear that he wants a title shot next. Dana White confirmed that Machado Garry is the backup for UFC 315 and Machado Garry believes because he’s stepped up that he should get the next shot.
Sean Brady obviously doesn’t agree with that sentiment and doesn’t believe Machado Garry should be next. I asked Machado Garry about a potential fight with Brady should the winner of Belal Muhammad – Jack Della Maddalena need time to recover and he was noncommittal. He said that the UFC knows he’ll always say yes but he’ll defer to his agent’s opinion on that one. If you ask me, I think he’ll need one more fight. Something tells me that we might see him and Sean Brady fight later this year.