Ian Machado Garry claims “Kamaru Usman is f*ing irrelevant in the division” amid Islam Makhachev vs. Usman rumblings

Ian Machado Garry does not like the emerging discourse about Kamaru Usman being the potential next challenger for Islam Makhachev’s welterweight title. This was touched on during a segment the Irish combatant did for UFC on TNT with an excerpt posted to X account @RedCorner_MMA.

Touching on the depth of game contenders at 170 pounds who emerged from UFC 322 and why Usman does not stand out above them, Machado Garry said,

“Khabib and his team are very smart and they are very intelligent at choosing fights and making interesting matchups. Kamaru Usman is f*ing irrelevant in the welterweight division right now. Excuse my language but it’s the fact. He’s a has-been and yes, at one point in time he was arguably the greatest welterweight of all time. He’s not close and I think Khabib and the team in Russia and that whole fight team, they know how to spin the wording to build a fight.”

“But there’s no interest. No fan wants to see that fight [Islam vs Kamaru]. They want to see him versus me, they want to see him versus Shavkat [Rakhmonov]. They want to see Islam versus [Carlos] Prates and [Michael] Morales. They want to see the new generation of this welterweight division. When you’ve got someone who is pushing 40 years of age and ranked nearly 10 in the world, he’s irrelevant.”

Ian Machado Garry on Islam’s team stoking Makhachev vs. Usman talks: “I think it’s a cop out”

Machado Garry also has a big fight in this weekend’s co-main event at UFC Qatar when he does battle with a former welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, which could even net him the championship opportunity. Further discussing the rumblings of a potential Usman vs. Makhachev title fight, Machado Garry continued,

“So I think that’s just Islam trying to get that 17th consecutive win against an easy opponent. Someone who was at one point in time somebody but now is just trying to maintain relevance. So I think it’s just, I don’t want to say anything disrespectful to Islam and his team, but I think it’s a cop out.”