Ian Machado Garry targets victory over training partner Vicente Luque as first step towards UFC title shot in 2024

ByThe Editorial Team

Updated 09/12/2023 at 21:15 GMT

Ian Machado Garry has vowed to keep “putting fear” into the Welterweight division as he targets a title shot in 2024 ahead of facing training partner Vicente Luque at UFC 296. Garry will face off with the Brazilian in Las Vegas on December 16, live on TNT Sports Box Office, aiming to maintain his unbeaten record in 13 MMA fights. The pair train together at the Diego Lima gym in Sao Paulo.

Ian Machado Garry has vowed to keep “putting fear” into the Welterweight division as he targets a title shot in 2024 ahead of facing training partner Vicente Luque at UFC 296, live on TNT Sports Box Office.

Garry will face off with the Brazilian in Las Vegas on December 16 aiming to maintain his unbeaten record in MMA.

, where he spars alongside Luque, but does not believe that will cause him problems when the two clash in the States.

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Luque is the more experienced fighter and is ranked just ahead of Garry inside the top 10 of the UFC rankings, but has lost nine of his 32 fights.

“Honestly, I don’t think training with Vicente means a lot for this fight,” he told In Camp With Ian Machado Garry on TNT Sports.

“Vicente is a world-class fighter, I’m a world-class fighter. We’re No. 10 and No. 9 in the world, it doesn’t matter if we know each other or not. We’re both going to go in there and fight and do what fits into our gameplan and whoever does that best is going to come out the winner.

“That’s exactly what I have done my entire career. I‘ve gone in there with a gameplan, I’ve stuck to it, I’ve won and I’ve dominated.”

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Garry described the opportunity recently to meet his inspiration Conor McGregor as a “surreal” experience and he is determined to follow his hero’s lead to the top of the UFC.

“Next year my aim is to make it into that contender realm," Garry said. "Right now I’m still a prospect who has just entered the ranks. I’m No.10 in the world but I have to beat two or three guys in the top 10 before I’m anywhere near that title shot.

“The rest of next year will be really exciting, really awesome match-ups, a lot of growth, evolution in the next 12 months. Trust me it’s going to be exciting.

“When I get my hand raised at UFC 296 in Vegas you can be sure that I’m going to keep this up in the division, keep putting fear into people that the new guys are coming through - this kid is fast, this kid is good, this kid is talented, energetic, he’s new, he’s different.”

Coach Diego Lima described Garry’s preparation for the fight as “perfect” and has backed the 26-year-old to become a champion “in no time.”

“Ian’s future doesn’t have any path that is not victory, is not the belt,” said Lima. “The energy he has, the intelligence he has, I think he will be a great champion in no time.”

Behind-the-scenes training with Ian Machado Garry

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