Tyron Woodley says UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev is too experienced to play Ian Machado Garry‘s game.
Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) makes his first title defense against Machado Garry (17-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 330 (Paramount+) main event at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Although Javier Mendez is confident Makhachev can beat Machado Garry on the feet, Woodley doesn’t expect his game plan to waver just to try and prove a point.
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“I know Islam Makhachev is going to stay with the game plan,” Woodley said in an interview with Jackpot City Casino. “He’s not worried about proving anything like, ‘I can strike too.’ He’s going to take the path of least resistance. He’s going to do what’s going to secure him the victory to continue to remain with his record intact. He’s going to wrestle him. Ian Garry, most likely, is not going to be able to build skills in three months that are going to be enough to stop something Islam has been doing his whole life.
“So, that’s not good. Now, whether Ian continues to get up, escape and get away after he’s taken down, whether he can create space to throw strikes before he gets taken down, that’s a different thing. But he is going to get taken down. That’s what Islam is going to do. Islam is not going to abort his wrestling, his pressure and his dominance to engage in a striking battle so everybody can quit saying he’s just a wrestler. He’s going to wrestle. He’s smart enough not to let the ego get in play and take away his ability to get this win.”
As Makhachev looks to break the UFC record for most consecutive victories, he enters UFC 330 as a big favorite over Machado Garry. Makhachev did a good job of sticking to his game plan when he took Jack Della Maddalena four times and controlled him for almost 20 minutes in his title-winning performance at UFC 322.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Tyron Woodley: Islam Makhachev won’t let ego get in way of UFC 330 win
