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Makhachev (28-1) looks to defend his 170-pound championship for the first time against Garry (17-1) at UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Garry is known for excellent distance management and long-range strikes. However, Mendez already has who he believes is the perfect fighter to emulate the Irishman’s style in their team.
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Islam Makhachev’s coach names ‘perfect’ Ian Garry training replica
Mendez is confident that another one of his pupils, Usman Nurmagomedov, can copy almost any style. The American Kickboxing Academy head coach recently revealed that the Professional Fighters League lightweight champion is one of Makhachev’s primary training partners, closely mimicking Garry’s style.
A middleweight title fight headlines PFL Austin: Tune on Saturday, July 18 at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
“[Usman] is the best sparring partner you want to have,” Mendez told Submission Radio. “Usman’s at another level. People who have never seen him should tune in to this kid. Because he is special… Usman would be the one individual that can mimic almost anybody. He would be the closest to Ian Garry for us.”
Nurmagomedov (21-0) is considered among the best fighters in the world competing outside the UFC. He will exhaust his current PFL contract when he puts his lightweight title on the line against Archie Colgan (13-0) on July 31 at UBS Arena in Long Island, New York. His brother, Umar, is already a top-ranked bantamweight in the UFC.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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