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Ian Machado Garry picked Du Plessis over Strickland at UFC 297
The 10th ranked UFC welterweight streamed his reactions to UFC 297’s middleweight title fight between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. Before he watched highlights from the fight he announced his pick:
“I’m watching the highlights of the Sean Strickland vs Du Plessis fight. I hope that Sean gets sparked unconscious.
“There is no way I would have ever bet against Du Plessis losing this fight considering he mauled Robert Whittaker and Sean Strickland isn’t half the fighter Whittaker is.”
Ian Machado Garry: ‘If I ever have a fight like this please tell me to retire’
Machado Garry didn’t lighten up in his critiques of Strickland when he saw the fight’s action, either. And he had heaps of scorn for Du Plessis’ technique as well.
“Just sloppy boxing. Look. Look at this. Zero technique just slugging it out. Oh my God, I feel like I’m watching two amateurs fight.
“Oh my dear Jesus Christ. If I ever have a fight like that please tell me to retire.”
Other analysts were more impressed by Du Plessis’ technique
Garry’s take is at odds with Bloody Elbow fight analyst Kostas Fantaousakis who felt that Du Plessis’ relatively well-rounded MMA game earned the win over the one-dimensional Strickland who wanted a pure kickboxing match.
“The challenger’s game featured a combination of takedowns and kicks, with Du Plessis exerting pressure on Strickland during crucial exchanges. He caused cuts on Strickland’s face although he had to pay for his continuous pressure by receiving damage from Strickland’s jab.
“Throughout the fight, Du Plessis displayed a variety of techniques, including changing stances and delivering left middle and high kicks, while Strickland utilized a conventional boxing stance with jabs and straight right hands, along with straight right snap kicks to the belly.”
Strickland wouldn’t be surprised if Machado Garry were to shoot him
In a pre-fight interview with TMZ, Sean Strickland responded to a question about crossing lines when hyping a fight by saying that if Ian Machado Garry “were to walk into this building right now and shoot me in the head I would respect him for doing it. You try not to talk about someone’s wife and kids. I started it. I was talking about his wife and calling him a ******. I’m fully aware of that.”
Garry calls out Sean Strickland
Garry agrees with the judges’ decision that Du Plessis won the fight and took the title at UFC 297.
Garry closes his video with an insult and a call out of the former middleweight champ.
“(Eff) you Sean Strickland. Now that fight’s even more available.”
This is the first I’ve heard of the welterweight contender nursing an ambition to face the former middleweight champ. Presumably Garry would move up from 170 pounds to 185 pounds to make that happen.
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