Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic <\/p>\n
Three months ago, before Ian Garry had his next opponent set, expressed \u201czero interest\u201d in a matchup against Michael \u201cVenom\u201d Page.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s changed now, with Page squarely in his sights for a UFC 303 clash Saturday in Las Vegas?<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing. I have zero interest in fighting MVP,\u201d the brash Garry told The Post during a recent video call. \u201cI had zero interest then; I have zero interest now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The chief reason, Garry says, the bout came together at all was the Irishman\u2019s single-minded desire to fight on the same card as countryman Conor McGregor, an icon to the 26-year-old welterweight who withdrew earlier this month due to a broken toe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead of McGregor\u2019s return from a three-year layoff against Michael Chandler, the event at T-Mobile Arena will be headlined by light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira defending his title against Jiri Prochazka in a rematch of their Madison Square Garden clash last November.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was my dream: fighting on the same card as him,\u201d said of McGregor, \u201cand MVP was the only person who said \u2018yes.\u2019 There was a long list of \u2018nos,\u2019 so I\u2019m grateful MVP said yes, but I had zero interest to fight him then, and I have zero interest to fight him now.\u201d<\/p>\n
A more appealing matchup for Garry, who started his UFC career with a bang with a first-round knockout victory at the Garden in November 2021 and has yet to taste defeat as a pro, is the man who unsuccessfully challenged then-champion Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title in New York that same night: Colby Covington.<\/p>\n
Covington, who does not have a fight scheduled and has yet to compete since a listless December loss to current 170-pound champion Leon Edwards, earlier this year teased a potential willingness to face Garry.<\/p>\n
The former interim titleist has changed his tune since, however, boasting that he\u2019s financially secure enough not to fight again and denigrating Garry\u2019s most recent victory \u2014 a February split decision victory over Geoff Neal \u2014 and noting he would like to get healthy after saying he broke his foot early in the loss to Edwards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want big fights,\u201d Covington said on \u201cSOSCAST w\/ Adam Sosnick.\u201d \u201cThis kid\u2019s a nobody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garry (14-0, eight finishes), who told The Post he had not heard Covington\u2019s latest mudslinging before being informed of the crack, fired right back at the three-time undisputed title challenger.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe truth is that is absolute bollocks. [Saying] I\u2019m a nobody is an easy way for him to try to swerve this,\u201d Garry retorted before mocking Covington\u2019s reasons. \u201c \u2018I\u2019m trying to get healthy. He\u2019s a no one. I\u2019m not going to fight him.\u2019 Listen, he has no other option right now. He has no other option. He\u2019s not fighting anyone above him [in the UFC rankings], and I\u2019m the highest[-ranked] guy that he can fight, that he\u2019s going to want to stylistically fight.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not going out there and fighting a Gilbert Burns, who\u2019s a grappler heavy, who\u2019s amazing in jiu-jitsu. He wants a stylistic fight that is going to benefit his style of wrestling. I\u2019m him, and he said no, and he\u2019s running, and he\u2019s scared. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s ever, ever going to be a scenario where Colby Covington accepts a fight with me anymore. I think he\u2019s had his opportunity, he ran, and he\u2019s too scared because he knows the truth: I, to him, am the end of this career. I, to him, am that kryptonite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of whether Garry\u2019s right about a future showdown against Covington, former longtime Bellator fighter Page (22-2, 16 finishes) is the more concrete challenge in his path.<\/p>\n
Page won his UFC debut in March, picking up a relatively clean decision victory over Kevin Holland that showcased the kickboxing skills that had him in his former promotion\u2019s championship picture for years.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not to say any of that impresses Garry; it plainly does not.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, he\u2019s coming to the UFC, which is the greatest organization in fighting, and he thinks he\u2019s going to come into this division and do, what, win a world title? He couldn\u2019t do it in Bellator, and he thinks he\u2019s going to do it here,\u201d Garry says with incredulity. \u201cHe\u2019s not gonna touch me, and he\u2019s not gonna touch anyone above me in the rankings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the end of his career,\u201d he continues regarding his 37-year-old foe. \u201cI\u2019m \u2026 11 years younger than him. I\u2019m prettier than him, I\u2019m more technical than him, and in every single which way, I\u2019m going to outclass him, and I\u2019m going to prove that there are levels to this game.\u201d<\/p>\n
There will be no gentlemen\u2019s agreement to keep the fight standing, Garry says, but he says one thing will ensure the fight stays standing for at least a period of the fight despite what he perceives as a clear edge as the more well-rounded fighter compared to the striker Page.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a massive ego, and my massive ego is gonna go out there and prove to MVP that I\u2019m better than you, where you\u2019re best, and we\u2019ll see where he takes it from there,\u201d Garry explains. \u201cAnd I believe, once I show him my skill set and my ability to dominate the fight, I think we\u2019re going to see MVP scrambling, and I think he\u2019s gonna be very, very worried in that octagon.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Three months ago, before Ian Garry had his next opponent set, expressed \u201czero interest\u201d in a matchup against Michael \u201cVenom\u201d Page. What\u2019s changed now, with Page squarely in his sights for a UFC 303 clash Saturday in Las Vegas? \u201cNothing. I have zero interest<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-137810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137812,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137810\/revisions\/137812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}