Ian Machado Garry

When Conor McGregor drew attention to MMA in Ireland, Garry was inspired to try Judo to expand his martial art skillset.

After attending Dublin Institute of Technology for a couple of months, he dropped out to focus on martial arts.

[14] He made his professional debut in February 2019 at Cage Warriors 101,[15] where he won against James Sheehan via unanimous decision and earned the Fight of the Night award as well as a contract with the promotion.

[16] Garry accumulated four more consecutive wins, before facing two-fight UFC veteran Rostem Akman at Cage Warriors 121.

[18][19] In July 2021, Garry, the reigning Cage Warriors Welterweight Champion announced that he had signed a contract with the UFC.

He made his promotional debut on 6 November 2021 against Jordan Williams, scoring a first-round knockout win at UFC 268.

[29] However, Neal withdrew due to undisclosed health reasons,[30] and was replaced by Neil Magny.