Vicente Luque is set to fight Ian Machado Garry at UFC 296, and despite Garry’s recent negative press and their shared history of training together, Luque holds no ill will towards him and is focused on winning the match.
Vicente Luque has his sights set on defeating Ian Machado Garry at UFC 296. But don’t get it twisted, there’s no bad blood between these two.
In the build-up to the final UFC pay-per-view of 2023, Machado Garry has been making headlines. He’s been gym-hopping, trying to find a home for his recent training camp. The Irish prospect got kicked out of UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards’ gym, apparently not fitting their culture.
Machado Garry’s recent gym-hopping spree is partly due to his upcoming fight with Luque. They used to train together at Florida’s Kill Cliff FC gym. Despite Machado Garry’s negative press, Luque defended him, having spent a lot of time training together.
“I know Ian quite well,” Luque told MMA Fighting. They weren’t exactly buddies outside the gym, but they were always talking and working together during training. They even supported each other during fight weeks, discussing fights and sparring.
Luque describes their relationship as friendly and beneficial. They had good conversations and helped each other develop their games. As for Machado Garry’s gym attitude, Luque didn’t notice any issues during their time together at Kill Cliff.
Luque doesn’t know about Machado Garry’s experience at Edwards’ gym and doesn’t want to. “That’s his life, that’s Ian’s life,” Luque said. He remembers Machado Garry as a nice guy, a good teammate, and a hard worker.
When their fight was announced, Machado Garry shared a conversation he had with Luque about the matchup. It was just business for them. There was some question about whether Luque gave permission for the private conversation to be shared publicly, but Luque quickly shut that rumor down.
“He did talk to me about,” Luque said. They exchanged voice messages, and Luque made it clear that he wasn’t taking their fight personally. “I want the best Ian and I’m telling you, you’re going to have the best Luque out there,” he said.
As for the future, Luque isn’t sure if Machado Garry might return to Kill Cliff after their fight. But he wouldn’t have a problem with that. He points to a similar situation with Kamaru Usman, who left their gym for a title defense against Gilbert Burns but later returned.
When it comes to the fight itself, Luque feels like he knows Machado Garry very well. They spent a lot of time training together and sparring. While he acknowledges Machado Garry as a talented striker, Luque believes he has more weapons in his arsenal.
“His striking is high level,” Luque said. But he sees himself beating Machado Garry in striking if that’s the path he chooses in the fight. “I definitely think that I’m the more versatile fighter. I have more tools. I have more ways to win,” he said.