Ian Machado Garry has made his next-steps message in the welterweight division very clear: if he beats Islam Makhachev at UFC 330, he believes Carlos Prates is the only fighter who deserves the next title shot.
Garry said at media day before UFC 330 that he had already spoken with Prates last week about the situation. The conversation, he said, centered on what comes after Saturday's title fight in Philadelphia and how the division should line up if he leaves with the belt.
Why Garry singled out Prates
Garry did not frame the title picture as a wide-open debate. Instead, he said there is only one person who has done enough to be next. In his words, Carlos Prates has earned it and nobody else in the division has.
That view is tied to what Garry sees as Prates' recent body of work. Garry pointed to Prates being coming off two fights against two guys that have never been finished and doing it in what he described as insane fashion. The message was simple: in Garry's eyes, Prates has separated himself from the rest of the field.
The welterweight picture matters because Garry is already coming off a decision win over Belal Muhammad and a prior decision win over Carlos Prates. That history gives his comments extra weight, since he is not speaking about Prates as an outside observer but as a fighter who has already shared the cage with him.
What Garry said about a possible rematch
Garry also addressed the possibility of running it back with Islam Makhachev after UFC 330, but only if the title fight plays out in a way that makes a rematch necessary.
He said the division should focus on Saturday night first, then assess the result and the fashion of the win before talking seriously about another fight. Garry added that if he were to beat Makhachev quickly, a rematch might not make much sense right away. But if the fight turns into a long, back-and-forth battle, he said it could warrant another meeting.
He also made clear he would not be against it, while again stressing that the next step depends on what happens in Philadelphia. For now, the immediate task is straightforward: get through UFC 330, win the fight, and then see whether Prates is next or whether the title picture changes based on how the night unfolds.
In a division with plenty of moving parts, Garry's comments put Carlos Prates at the center of the conversation. If Garry leaves UFC 330 as champion, he has already told everyone where he thinks the welterweight queue should begin.
