Ian Machado Garry reacts after accepting late-notice UFC Kansas City main event against Carlos Prates
Yesterday at 06:05 AM
Ian Machado Garry has the chance to bounce back from his first loss in MMA after accepting a late-notice call to main event UFC Kansas City.
Last December at UFC 310, Ian Machado Garry was handed his first loss in MMA when he was narrowly defeated by fellow undefeated welterweight, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
With it having been a close fight, Machado Garry disputed the loss, claiming that Rakhmonov only ‘won by opinion’.
Despite losing to Rakhmonov, when Belal Muhammad was booked to fight Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 due to an injury to Shavkat, Machado Garry expressed his disappointment that he wasn’t offered the title fight.
Ian Machado Garry reacts to late-notice fight against Prates
On April 26, the UFC returns to Kansas City for just the third time in the promotion’s history, with the last event being in 2023 when Max Holloway took on Arnold Allen in the main event.
Originally, Jamahal Hill was scheduled to take on Khalil Rountree Jr in the main event, however, the former UFC light heavyweight champion withdrew from the fight due to injury.
This is the second time the two have been scheduled to fight each other, as they were originally set to clash at UFC 303, but Rountree Jr was pulled from the fight due to a failed drug test.
With the event just a few weeks away, UFC boss Dana White took to Instagram Live this past Tuesday to announce the new main event between Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates.
‘The Nightmare’ Prates was originally set to compete at UFC 314 on April 12, but Geoff Neal pulled out of the fight, leaving Prates without an opponent.
“Right, it’s official, you’ve got a new main event, Kansas City, Missouri, me versus Carlos Prates, April 26, I’m excited,” Machado Garry immediately reacted in a video on his Instagram.
“The UFC go, ‘Ah, we need someone, who do we need? Who do we call?’ You call me. Why? Because I’m a real fighter who wants to fight the best in the world. I’m going to show everybody how good I am.
“Carlos Prates is awesome, but this my world. I love to fight. There’s nothing I love more in this world than fighting,” the Irishman continued.
Prates is currently ranked 13th in the welterweight division and is widely considered one of the most exciting talents in the division, representing the soaring ‘Fighting Nerds’.
‘The Future’, on the other hand, is still ranked inside the top 10 and will be hoping to return to the win column and potentially back into title contention.
Other notable fights on UFC Kansas City event
The UFC’s return to Kansas City is shaping up to be a good card on paper, with the new main event arguably being a better fight than the original main event.
In the co-main event, UFC veteran Anthony Smith takes on Chinese prospect Mingyang Zhang, who has only fought twice in the UFC so far.
Fan favorite Michel Pereira also competes on the card, taking on Abus Magomedov in an exciting middleweight clash.
