Ian Garry Explains Why He Finds Upcoming Michael Page Fight Unappealing

Ian Garry continues to be disinterested in his upcoming fight with former Bellator MMA standout Michael Page.

Garry and Page will meet in a welterweight clash at UFC 303 on June 29 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. It was Page who rallied hard for the booking against Garry, who was reluctant to accept it initially.

While the matchup has been made, Garry is still not interested in it with less than a week to go before fight night.

In his seven-fight undefeated UFC run, Garry has already been tested against perennially ranked veterans like Neil Magny and Geoff Neal. Going forward, Garry wants fights which would help him inch closer to his ultimate goal of winning UFC gold. However, fighting a lower-ranked Page doesn’t add to that in any manner, in Garry’s opinion. Garry would have preferred an opponent ranked higher than him such as Colby Covington. Garry explained his point of view during a recent appearance on "The MMA Hour.”

“I’m still not interested in it,” he said. “I have no interest in it, I’ve told you. Here’s the way I look at it: I’m undefeated, I’ve beaten everybody put in front of me in the best way I believe I can. And I go out there and I get my hand raised any way, shape and form possible. That is my job. When I do that, I fight up because my goal is to be the world champion.

“I’m looking at the guys above me. There’s six or seven guys ahead of me, there’s Gilbert [Burns], there’s Shavkat [Rakhmonov], there’s Jack Della Maddalena, there’s Colby [Covington], there’s [Kamaru] Usman, Belal [Muhammad] and Leon [Edwards]. All I’ve done in my career is win. I deserve to fight one of those guys. I have to fight one of those guys because that is my projection. I’m on a projection to be one of the world champions. I’m on a projection to be one of the biggest stars the sport’s ever seen. I have no interest in fighting below me. I’ve already fought [No.] 15 in the world, 10 in the world, 8 in the world, why on Earth would I want to fight No. 13? I still have no interest in fighting Michael. I have no interest in fighting him.”