Outside Source
Makhachev (28-1) defends his Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against Garry (17-1) at UFC 330 on Aug. 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Makhachev and Garry recently faced off for the first time in front of the iconic Rocky statue in Philly, where the challenger perceived nerves on the champ’s part.
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Ian Garry on face-off with Islam Makhachev: ‘He didn’t want to be there’
Garry claims to have felt some “nervous energy” from the Dagestani champion. However, he also admitted that it was an unofficial face-off and the one that actually matters is the official one at the ceremonial weigh-ins, after they’ve made weight.
“I just kind of felt like yesterday he didn’t want to be there,” Garry said at UFC 330 media day. “He didn’t want to be at the face-off. I sensed a little bit of nervous energy from him. But they are face-offs; they are fake, they are for social media, they are for Instagram, they are for obligations. They’re not for us. The face-off that matters to me is Friday, when we’ve made weight, when we’ve done all the hard work, we show up in front of fans and it’s the last time we get to look at each other before we meet in the Octagon.”
Meanwhile, Makhachev seemed completely unfazed by Garry’s perception. The Russian says this is the second time in his career that he is enjoying every moment of fight week.
“I’m not nervous,” Makhachev said at media day. “This is like my second fight week in my life where I enjoying every moment.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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