Ian Garry calls himself Islam Makhachev's most dangerous opponent

Ian Garry has staked a bold claim ahead of his upcoming fight with Islam Makhachev, declaring himself the most dangerous opponent the lightweight champion has ever encountered.

Garry pointed to recent title upsets in other divisions as evidence that elite champions are beatable, specifically citing the runs of Sean Strickland and Justin Gaethje. He argued that his own well-rounded skill set gives him multiple routes to victory that previous Makhachev opponents have lacked.

Makhachev enters the bout as both the welterweight champion and the consensus pound-for-pound number one fighter in the sport. The 34-year-old Russian, who trains out of Eagles MMA, carries a 28-1 record and represents one of the most complete fighters in the game. He lands significant strikes at a 58 percent accuracy rate and is a relentless wrestling threat, averaging 3.2 takedowns per 15 minutes to go along with 1.1 submission attempts in the same span.

The two fighters Garry referenced have made compelling cases of their own. Strickland, the 35-year-old Xtreme Couture middleweight champion, holds a 31-7 record and leads all active champions in striking volume at 6.04 significant strikes per minute. Gaethje, also 37 and fighting out of Genesis Training Center, is the current lightweight titleholder with a 28-5 mark and an even higher output of 6.48 significant strikes landed per minute at 58 percent accuracy.

Why it matters

• Makhachev's record and pound-for-pound status make any challenger's path enormously difficult to chart
• Garry's reference to Strickland and Gaethje suggests he intends to lean on volume striking and unpredictability rather than matching Makhachev on the ground
• A credible upset claim raises the stakes of the matchup and frames Garry as a threat to one of combat sports' most dominant champions