"I know I'm getting a world title fight" - Ian Machado Garry vows to earn shot at UFC gold by “smoking” Belal Muhammad next

Ian Machado Garry is ready to make a strong case for himself in the title contention by defeating Belal Muhammad in an impressive fashion.

Garry is set to face Muhammad in a welterweight bout in the co-main event of UFC Qatar on Nov. 22 at ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar. Ahead of his octagon return, the Irishman made an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show and said that he is very close to securing a title fight by prevailing over the former 170-pound champion:

''I want it to be publicly announced that it was a number one contender fight. If you're, look, me and Sean Brady, that was the fight to make and the winner that goes to the world title. I don't disagree with you at all. I think that makes a lot of sense. However... I wanted no one to be able to jump the ladder because of any excuse. So from my point of view, I thought after a fight with Belal first, because as I said, Belal has knocked out number two in Sean Brady and he has smashed number three in Leon Edwards. So when you, when you smoke Belal, it's obvious what comes next.''

He continued:

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''Now, if I go out there and do that to Sean Brady, someone can have that argument, 'oh, you haven't beat this guy.' And I didn't want any of that. So for me, it actually works out better, I'm not gonna lie...When you knock out a former champion, and he's number one in the world right now, and you smash him in less rounds than JDM could... I know I'm getting a world title fight."

Check out Ian Machado Garry's comments below:

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Ex-UFC fighter discusses Ian Machado Garry vs. Belal Muhammad matchup

In a recent ESPN MMA YouTube video, former UFC welterweight fighter Alan Jouban offered his thoughts on the Ian Machado Garry vs. Belal Muhammad contest at UFC Qatar next month.

Jouban believes Muhammad should demonstrate his wrestling prowess early on:

''This matchup, for me, is, which Belal is going to show up? And I don't know if that necessarily dictates if he's going to win or not. But the Belal before the JDM fight was able to take down every single person, even some of our best grapplers in the UFC. He was dumping them on their head...In this matchup, he needs to go to the wrestling early from the start of the bell against Ian Machado Garry. He's too tall, too fast on the feet." [1:44 of the video]

Edited by Swagat Kumar Jena