Off the again of an enormous evening at UFC 298, two divisions have been shuck up. In fact, we’ve the featherweight division, the place Ilia Topuria knocked out the previous champion, Alexander Volkanovski in devastating style to seize the belt, hand the Aussie his first loss at 145lbs and start a brand new period within the division.
The welterweight division has additionally been shaken up considerably with Dana White admitting that Leon Edwards had three totally different gives for UFC 300 and accepted all of them, nonetheless, the Brit gained’t be on the cardboard as not one of the fights materialised. This might counsel that there isn’t a transparent #1 contender at welterweight. On prime of this, Ian Garry picked up his 14th straight win and now holds the longest energetic successful run at 170lbs with seven.
Other than Topuria, the one different undefeated prime contender at featherweight is Movsar Evloev. Garry has just a little extra competitors at welterweight with Shavkat Rakhmonov additionally undefeated.
We’re going to match Garry and Evloev and why the Irishman seems to be the a lot greater star regardless of not being as expert.
Ian Machado Garry
Undefeated at 14-0, Ian Machado Garry entered the UFC with an terrible lot of hype. 7-0 on the time, he was the CageWarriors welterweight champion, having completed 5 of seven fights on his option to the large leagues. To kick begin his UFC profession, he scored a knockout earlier than being prolonged throughout the 15-minute distance twice. He then was in a position to overcome some adversity to attain one other knockout.
His breakout efficiency was in opposition to Daniel Rodriguez, the place he knocked out the sturdy American within the second spherical.
At this level, it was clear the UFC wished to push the Irishman as he made 4 straight PPV appearances earlier than competing on a combat evening card. It was again to the PPV playing cards for a dominant win over Neil Magny adopted by his UFC 298 win over Geoff Neal.
The Neal efficiency particularly had followers and consultants alike questioning whether or not The Future is definitely worthy of the hype. He put in a particularly lacklustre efficiency in opposition to Neal on the weekend and known as out the #5 ranked, Colby Covington following the victory.
However, even when he will get the Covington combat and wins, is he actually top-five calibre?
Talent
Talent-wise, Garry arguably isn’t top-five calibre, neither is he championship degree (but). Now that he has appeared to settle with a crew (Chute Boxe), there’s a very good probability that he can progress now and enhance each his abilities in addition to his combat IQ. If he’s going to turn out to be a star (like Conor McGregor, Garry’s idol), he wants to start out persistently ending fights. Forward of his undisputed title bout, McGregor had completed 5 of six fights, together with 5 post-fight bonuses.
Garry, however, has only one submit combat bonus, 4 choices and three finishes. The ending intuition doesn’t appear to be there. He seems to be too risk-averse, somewhat than going on the market and actively trying to find the end. In opposition to Magny, he had plenty of alternatives to finish the combat and appeared to not take them. Most not too long ago in opposition to Neal, the Irishman put in a below-par efficiency and admitted post-fight that he was cautious of the ability of his opponent.
When he’s taken the step-up in competitors, he’s not seemingly been in a position to proceed his ending intuition. That is one thing that he must get again if he’s going to be a megastar.
Persona
The persona of Garry is indisputably one thing that makes him a star. From the informal MMA fan to the hardcore fan, everybody is aware of Ian Machado Garry. He’s received a persona that you simply both love or hate, there’s no in between. The entire ordeal along with his spouse throughout the UFC 296 combat week seemingly turned followers in opposition to him and after UFC 298, he’s leaning into the ‘heel’ persona.
He claimed he might turn out to be ‘too massive’ to headline a combat evening in Eire, which persona smart, would work effectively. He likes the highlight, he extraordinarily good on the mic, has an attention-grabbing story in addition to having cheap abilities to again it up.
The Future isn’t scared to put on his coronary heart on his sleeve which has gained him a variety of followers but in addition a good few ‘haters’. His persona is infectious for a fighter. You both tune in to observe him get a knock out or to get knocked out which may make him a star.
Movsar Evloev
Like Machado Garry, Russian Movsar Evloev is undefeated, nonetheless, holds a greater file at 18-0 (8-0 within the UFC). With that being stated, he’s but to complete a combat and has gone the total quarter-hour in each one in every of his UFC fights to this point. We all know all too effectively that it’s tough to essentially recover from with followers until you persistently end fights. Leon Edwards struggled to get a title shot regardless of deserving it for a very long time as a result of he didn’t end a variety of fights. In the meanwhile, Belal Muhammad is due a welterweight title shot, nonetheless, followers aren’t excited to see him compete for the belt, so he could also be ‘overtaken’.
Evloev is at the moment ranked #5 at featherweight, nonetheless, has solely not too long ago fought the elite of the division. His greatest win thus far is in opposition to Arnold Allen, a person who is consistently in and across the prime 5.
Abilities
Arguably the explanation that Evloev isn’t ending opponents as frequently as others is due to his wrestling-heavy model. The difficulty is that, regardless of his dominance within the wrestling recreation (4.75 takedowns per quarter-hour at an accuracy of 46%), he prefers to overwhelm opponents with management time, somewhat than injury.
His stand-up is stable. He lands a mean of 4.43 vital strikes per minute and absorbs simply 2.89 strikes per minute. Apparently, pre-UFC, the Russian had seven finishes, which led to him accumulating the M-1 Problem bantamweight title. There have been alternatives for Evloev to complete fights, however just like Garry, he’s been too risk-averse and performed it secure.
Persona
Sadly for Evloev, that is the place his general recreation falls down. He doesn’t have a persona that ‘will get over’ with followers. He’s turn out to be extra vocal on Twitter as of late, calling for a shot on the title, nonetheless, it isn’t sufficient. The informal followers don’t look like all that conscious of who he’s, nor do they care whether or not he wins or loses.
My congratulations to the brand new champion. I’m coming for you and taking that belt from you #ufc298
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) February 18, 2024
With over one million followers on Instagram, Evloev clearly has a following, however within the mainstream, he doesn’t appear to ‘recover from’. Evloev has finished the proper factor by studying English so as to recover from with followers however he should do extra if he’s to essentially be successful and a future title contender. There’s a motive why some fighters get a title shot after only one win.
Comparability
Talent for talent, pound for pound, Evloev is extra well-rounded and higher expert than Garry.
Persona for persona, recognition and general ‘pull’, Garry dominates Evloev.
Total, every undefeated prospect may study from the opposite. Garry must turn out to be extra well-rounded and look to complete every combat, somewhat than taking part in it secure. Regardless of being well-rounded, Evloev additionally must look to complete fights.
Evloev would profit from leaning right into a heel persona. This manner, he would, indisputably turn out to be extra of an attention-grabbing fighter to wish to tune in for.
We may very well be seeing Evloev vs Topuria and Garry vs Rakhmanov in two battles of undefeated stars… however provided that Garry and Evloev progress.
