{"id":544403,"date":"2026-03-16T16:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/544403\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T16:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T16:46:08","slug":"ian-machado-garry-questions-reports-of-islam-makhachev-hand-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/544403\/","title":{"rendered":"Ian Machado Garry questions reports of Islam Makhachev hand injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-start=\"100\" data-end=\"282\">Ian Machado Garry has cast doubt on reports that UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is sidelined with a hand injury, suggesting the explanation may be an excuse for inactivity.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"284\" data-end=\"654\">Speculation about Makhachev\u2019s health has circulated in recent weeks amid discussion about potential bouts tied to a proposed \u201cFreedom 250\u201d event at the White House. UFC CEO Dana White has said the champion is dealing with an injured hand, though Garry, who had been rumored as a possible future opponent before those discussions intensified, said he remains unconvinced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\" data-start=\"656\" data-end=\"972\">\u201cYeah, I heard that too,\u201d Garry said of the reported injury in a social media post, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RedCorner_MMA\/status\/2033473356301815962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2033473356301815962%7Ctwgr%5E21fcbbd2321c8191d1e9338fe10ffcbe46ed590e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mmamania.com%2Fufc-news%2F429468%2Fian-machado-garry-buries-islam-makhachev-over-injury-rumors-i-think-its-just-excuses\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Red Corner MMA<\/a>. \u201cBut I don\u2019t believe it. I don\u2019t know what to believe. I can\u2019t imagine he hurt his hand in the last fight with Jack. So maybe he did it while horse riding? I don\u2019t believe it. I think it\u2019s just excuses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"974\" data-end=\"1485\">Garry continued by questioning whether the champion is avoiding a fight, saying inactivity among titleholders can sometimes be strategic. \u201cEverything about me now tells me he doesn\u2019t want to fight, doesn\u2019t want to fight, doesn\u2019t want to fight,\u201d Garry said, according to the same source. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s mentally, physically, whatever. He\u2019s doing the typical thing that all champions do when they get the belt. They try and maintain their position, maintain relevancy by not fighting and staying inactive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1487\" data-end=\"1624\">The Irish welterweight also suggested that a bout involving him could change the situation. \u201cWhen I fight, that all changes,\u201d Garry said.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1626\" data-end=\"1849\">No fight involving Makhachev has been formally announced, and the timing of his return remains unclear. The uncertainty comes as several high-profile UFC fighters have yet to be booked for bouts in the early months of 2026.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1851\" data-end=\"2045\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">Garry, meanwhile, is awaiting his next matchup in the welterweight division, a weight class that has often drawn criticism from fighters for prolonged periods of inactivity among top contenders.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Machado Garry has cast doubt on reports that UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is sidelined with a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-544403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}