UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev has responded to Ian Garry\u2019s public prodding about his return timeline, telling the Irish contender that he\u2019s ready whenever the promotion sends paperwork.<\/p>\n
Garry took to social media earlier this week to question the legitimacy of Makhachev\u2019s hand injury and suggest the champion has been dragging his feet on a potential showdown. \u201cFirst you say you have a hand injury, Dana said August, you\u2019re saying July \u2014 I\u2019ve been ready since you last turned me down in May,\u201d Garry wrote, per MMA Mania. \u201cWe\u2019re all waiting on you princess.\u201d<\/p>\n
Makhachev, who captured the 170-pound strap from Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 in November, clapped back Friday with a direct message. \u201cDon\u2019t worry about my injuries,\u201d the Dagestani wrote on X. \u201cI\u2019m ready at any time. I\u2019m waiting for the contract.\u201d<\/p>\n
UFC 330 in Philadelphia target for Makhachev vs Garry<\/p>\n
According to journalist Alvaro Colmenero, UFC matchmakers are working toward booking Makhachev against the No. 2-ranked Garry for UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at the Xfinity Center in Philadelphia. The bout would mark Makhachev\u2019s first welterweight title defense after a six-month layoff attributed to hand rehab and his annual observance of Ramadan.<\/p>\n
Garry carries a 10-1 UFC record into the matchup, with his lone loss coming against Shavkat Rakhmonov. The Irish contender holds a five-inch height advantage over Makhachev and has shown competent grappling defense off his back in past bouts. Makhachev figures to close as a sizable favourite if the fight is finalized, with his decorated submission game and pound-for-pound pedigree weighing heavily against Garry\u2019s untested championship experience.<\/p>\n
The promotion has not yet announced UFC 330 officially, but Philadelphia has been floated as a potential landing spot for a major summer card. Makhachev\u2019s camp has said July is realistic for his return, while UFC president Dana White mentioned August as the likely window.<\/p>\n
Original reporting:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev has responded to Ian Garry\u2019s public prodding about his return timeline, telling the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82],"class_list":["post-628923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}