This past Saturday on the main card of UFC 298, we saw a big time matchup in the welterweight division. Two top ten contenders battled it out as Ian Garry (14-0) took on “Handz of Steel” Geoff Neal (15-6).
This was expected to be the toughest test of Ian Garry’s career thus far. I was expecting absolute fireworks in this matchup given Garry’s style and given how Geoff Neal looked in his fights against Shavkat Rakhmonov and Vicente Luque.
Unfortunately for the fans, this was not a very good fight at all and easily the worst of the main card. This two largely neutralized each other throughout the fight and Neal decided to use a ton of clinch work on Garry throughout. Garry was playing the role of the matador throughout just sticking and moving.
Some decent shots were landing here and there, but there was never anything super significant. At the end of the fight, the scorecards were expected to be all over the place. In real time, I scored the fight for Neal, but two of the three judges gave the fight to Ian Garry and he remained unbeaten at UFC 298.
What’s next after UFC 298?
Following the win, Ian Garry was greeted with a ton of boos from the crowd which he encouraged. He’s still undefeated and now he’s moved into the sixth spot in the UFC’s welterweight rankings. In his post-fight interview, he called out the guy who is now ranked one spot ahead of him, Colby Covington.
Covington is coming off a title loss to Leon Edwards and he didn’t look great at all in that matchup. Garry said that he wanted to be the guy to retire him once and for all. That honestly is a fight that makes a ton of sense for Garry’s next step and it makes sense when you look at the rankings.
Another fight I’m watching is the fight between Gilbert Burns and Jack Della Maddalena which goes down in just a few weeks. Whoever wins that could be the perfect opponent for Garry. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see JDM – Garry or Burns – Garry depending on the outcome. Given the way the UFC has booked Colby Covington, this route might be the more likely option.