UFC commentator Michael Bisping criticized Ian Machado Garry’s attitude at UFC 330 in his main event fight against Islam Makhachev.
With the UFC welterweight title on the line, Machado Garry showed plenty of respect towards the champion, Makhachev, but many — including UFC president Dana White — believe he was being overly nice to his opponent inside the Octagon when he should have been trying to hurt him.
Bisping agrees.
Michael Bisping Critiques Ian Machado Garry
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Bisping shared his confusion about why Machado Garry was being so respectful towards Makhachev inside the cage when he should have been trying to take his head off.
“The big question is what was Ian Garry doing, and why are people doing this? It’s mixed martial arts, it’s the UFC, we’re trying to knock each other out, we’re trying to do harm, break jaws, fracture orbitals, take out the knees, choke them out unconscious. You don’t need to high five at the start of every single goddamn round. You don’t need to hug, you don’t need to share respect and all that type of stuff,” Bisping said (via MMAjunkie.com).
Bisping Thinks Machado Garry Showed ‘Sign of Weakness’
In Bisping’s opinion, the fact that Machado Garry was being so complimentary towards Makhachev both before the fight at the pre-fight press conference and during the actual match itself was a ‘sign of weakness’ for the Irishman against the UFC welterweight champion.
“Let’s not get the intention twisted. We’re still trying to harm our opponent. We’re still trying to damage them and take them out of it. I get it. You want to touch gloves maybe at the end of five rounds. That’s fine. When you go through four rounds of absolute blood and guts, when you beat the sh*t out of one another with no care and reckless abandon for one another’s futures, that’s fine. At the end of it, you’ve been through something. Give them a touch glove at the start of Round 5 and you say, ‘We’re going to war, let’s have it, let’s bring it.’ …. Ian Garry before the fight was ruffling a lot of feathers. He was answering questions for Islam Makhachev about Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, even though he’s never met the guy, saying, ‘Oh, he would be really proud of you,'” Bisping sad.
“Before the fight started, they were touching gloves. Ian Garry’s creating these moments. I always say when someone is trying to touch gloves before a fight starts, when you reach out and you make eye contact with your opponent at the other side of the octagon, and you’re like, ‘We’re touching gloves, right?’ They might say yeah, they might say no, they might say shut up. What the person that’s trying to initiate the glove touch, they are saying, ‘Hey, listen, take it easy on me. I know we talked a lot of (expletive) leading up to this, but we’re martial artists, and let’s be respectful and take it easy on me.’ It is a sign of weakness.”
Michael Bisping Criticizes Ian Machado Garry’s Attitude at UFC 330