The fighting star planning to bring the UFC back to Ireland
While Dublin has hosted many mixed martial arts events in recent times, it has been almost ten years since the UFC banner was raised in the capital
Ian Garry is confident he's the one who can bring the UFC back to Ireland.
Although Dublin has seen its fair share of mixed martial arts events in recent years, it's been nearly a decade since the UFC last held a card in the capital.
The most recent event was in October 2015, when Paddy Holohan faced Louis Smolka in a flyweight clash.
Now, Garry believes that if the UFC is coming back to Ireland, he's the man to lead the charge.
"I've been saying for years that I'm the only one who can be able to make that happen. I'd like for this not to be true, but no one else in Ireland has been able to do what I've been doing in the UFC recently.
"I'm not happy about it, I'm not proud about it. I'm proud that I am getting the wins and carrying the flag and doing what I possibly can because there is nobody even close to succeeding in the way that I'm succeeding.
"I think I've got more wins in the UFC than every single Irish fighter in the last five years. I'm not even joking when I think I might have tripled the wins. Shauna Bannon won a fight, I think Caolan Loughran won a fight. Rhys McKee won a fight. I don't know anybody else that won a fight off the top of my head.
"They've got three, I've got nine. I fought the very f***ing best of the best.
"I've got five wins in the top 15. I've been flying the flag. From a very young age I was the heir to the throne in Ireland. I was the next Conor [McGregor] to most people.
"I knew that, everybody else knew that and I'm still proving that. To this day, I am the only person that will be able to bring them back to the Emerald Isle. I am the only person who will be able to have that power.
"That is a bucket list that I need ticked off. I need to fight in Ireland. I need to bring it back to Dublin because I believe a fire needs to be relit in Ireland.
"I believe there is an energy that needs to come back, and the UFC coming back to Ireland is exactly what Irish MMA needs to get that boom again."
Where and when a UFC fight card takes place in Ireland, Garry does not care as long as he is involved.
He told MegaTipsList: "Logistically, I've been told that it's never going to be the 3 Arena. I think we could do it in the Aviva Stadium. We just need to figure out something. But the Aviva, Croke Park, we could figure something out.
"I don't really care where. It's more important that we get them back. That's far more important than where. If we did it in a bleeding field, people would still come to watch."
Garry's last fight was a unanimous decision win over Carlos Prates in Kansas City in April, following on from losing his undefeated record last December to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310.
The 27-year-old revealed that at one stage he was being lined up to fight American Colby Covington on a UFC card featuring Conor McGregor - and Garry still thinks Covington would be an ideal opponent for him if the promotion was to return to Ireland.
"There was a world where I thought I was going to be fighting on a Conor McGregor co-main event. I thought it was going to be Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler, and Ian Machado Gary versus Colby Covington. That will sell out.
"So if he's ever man enough and ever wants to take the fight and the UFC ever want to go back to Dublin, by all means, Colby, the offer will always be there whether I'm champ or not."
McGregor has not fought since July 2021 and, although there has been talk of the former two-weight world champion competing at a UFC event at the White House next year, Garry is unsure if he will ever return to the octagon.
Garry said: “Out of love for what he’s done as a fighter, and all the inspiration he’s given me in my career, I would love to see him back one more time.
"It’s highly unlikely, but I would love to see it. A kid can dream and a kid can hope.”