Islam
Makhachev's coach, Javier Mendez, has nothing but praise for
Ian
Garry.

Makhachev (29-1) put his
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title on the line
against Garry (17-2) at UFC
330 in Philadelphia. The challenger pushed the champ to the
limit, stuffing multiple takedown and submission attempts, but
ultimately lost via decision.

Ian Garry earns praise from Islam Makhachev's coach after
pushing the champion at UFC 330

While Makhachev was able to take Garry down, he wasn't able to
control the Irishman as he did against his previous opponents.
Makhachev even missed several takedown attempts altogether.
Furthermore, Garry showed no signs of fatigue throughout the bout
and appeared to be the fresher fighter the deeper the fight went,
while the champion's face was heavily bruised.

Mendez was impressed with Garry's valiant display and believes the
former
Cage Warriors champ should remain the No. 1 welterweight
contender on the UFC's official's rankings after his performance
against Makhachev.

“Ian Garry came in to demonstrate how tough he was, how deserving
he is of the No. 1 spot and he proved his point,†Mendez told
Submission Radio. “He's the No. 1 contender for a reason and he
probably should stay No. 1 contender after this performance, in my
opinion.â€

Makhachev is targeting Carlos
Prates for his next title defense, with the unbeaten Michael
Morales, who weighed in as a backup at UFC 330, also in
contention.

Henry
Cejudo believes Khabib
Nurmagomedov didn't do enough in his career to be considered
one of the greatest of all time.

While Nurmagomedov is widely considered among the greatest fighters
in mixed martial arts history, Cejudo argues that “The Eagle†only
defended the
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight title thrice.
“Triple C†believes its only title wins and defenses are to be
considered for making it to the GOAT list and the Russian's
retirement at 32 leaves many unanswered questions.

Henry Cejudo argues Khabib Nurmagomedov’s three UFC title
defenses aren’t enough for GOAT status

Nurmagomedov's teammate and successor, current pound-for-pound king
Islam
Makhachev, defended his welterweight title against Ian Garry at
UFC
330. Cejudo believes Makhachev, in pursuit of his fourth title
defense overall in the UFC, would have dropped significantly on the
pound-for-pound list if he had lost against Garry.

“No, Khabib is not there, bro,†Cejudo said on the “Pound 4 Poundâ€
podcast. “Three title defenses? Like, that's not it, bro. That's
not it. And I love Khabib Nurmagomedov. But that's not it. Title
defenses are what people see, bro. You can have a padded record
too, with a bunch of wins. Not saying that he did. Let me put it to
you this way. If Islam Makhachev was unable to secure that victory
over Ian Garry, not defend his belt, he really goes down the list,
bro. Because the most important thing, bro, is to win and then to
defend.â€

Nurmagomedov (29-0) won the UFC lightweight title against Al Iaquinta
and defended it against Conor
McGregor, Dustin
Poirier and Justin
Gaethje before retiring undefeated in 2020. Meanwhile, Cejudo
(16-6) won the UFC flyweight title against Demetrious
Johnson and defended it against T.J.
Dillashaw before moving up. Cejudo then won the bantamweight
title against Marlon
Moraes and defended it against Dominick
Cruz before abruptly retiring in 2020.

Cejudo then came out of retirement after three years but never won
again. The Olympic gold medalist dropped four in a row and finally
hung up his gloves following a loss to Payton
Talbott this past December.

Charles
Johnson wants to avenge his loss to Brandon
Royval.

Johnson scored a Scottish twister submission win, the second-ever
in
Ultimate Fighting Championship history, against Eduardo
Henrique at UFC
330. Henrique had stepped up on three days' notice after
Johnson's originally scheduled opponent Jose Ochoa
pulled out. Johnson now wants to make up for a past defeat, but is
open to other matchups.

Charles Johnson targets revenge against Brandon Royval eight
years after LFA fight

Johnson, who has already fought four times this year, is eyeing a
quick turnaround for a main event outing. He named Royval, Kyoji
Horiguchi and Tatsuro
Taira as potential next opponents. “InnerG†would prefer
avenging his loss to Royval dating back to 2018 under the
Legacy Fighting Alliance banner. He also believes Royval is
better than Horiguchi and Taira.

“I would love to fight as soon as I'm healthy, within the next 90
days,†Johnson told Ariel Helwani. “I would love a main event if it
makes sense for the UFC. I'd like to fight Brandon Royval, Kyoji
Horiguchi, or Tatsuro Taira… Give me one of those guys. They're all
proven. And I want to show what I can do. I do have a preference;
no doubt, it's Brandon Royval. We had an amazing fight in LFA, and
I think he's the most proven out of those three guys. I think he's
the best out of those three guys. We’re both dogs. It’s going to be
f*cking fight of the year.â€

Johnson (20-9) rebounded from a loss against Asu
Almabayev with the win over Henrique. The 35-year-old holds
wins over top-ranked contender Lone'er
Kavanagh and even the current champion, Joshua Van.
Meanwhile, Royval (18-9) is coming off a win over Kavanagh that saw
him rebound from losses against Van and Manel
Kape.

Charles
Johnson wants another quick turnaround and has Brandon
Royval at the top of his wishlist:

“I would love to fight as soon as I'm healthy, within the next 90
days… I'd like to fight Brandon
Royval, Kyoji
Horiguchi or Tatsuro
Taira. Give me one of those guys. They're all… pic.twitter.com/44zrfU5nfn

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
August 17, 2026