Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Newly minted champion Islam Makhachev will defend his crown against surging contender Ian Machado Garry in the UFC 330 headliner at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
Makhachev, who beat Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena to capture the 170-pound strap with a dominant, five-round victory, is the headline act on Saturday’s card – the first UFC Philadelphia event in seven years.
The verbal warfare ignited Thursday afternoon during the pre-fight press conference in front of a raucous Philadelphia crowd, where the fighters traded heated barbs over Dagestani wrestling compared to Irish striking supremacy.
While security was no issue during the traditional ceremonial faceoff, the electric tension between the champ and challenger served as the climax to a high-stakes fight week in the City of Brotherly Love.
With a victory, Russia’s Makhachev will break Anderson Silva’s previous record of 16 consecutive UFC victories.
Silva held the middleweight title beginning in 2006 by knocking out Rich Franklin at UFC 64, before relinquishing it against Chris Weidman at UFC 162 in 2013. In that span, Silva defended the title 10 times and was arguably the best fighter of his era.
Makhachev is confident he will keep winning for a long time.
“It’s going to be 20 (wins) minimum,” Makhachev told reporters.
Garry quickly fired back, scoffing at the champion’s grappling pedigree and assuring the crowd his footwork and volume will shatter Makhachev’s pound-for-pound status.
“Nobody can take (my dreams) away from me,” Garry said in response to the champion’s pre-fight claims. “Every single one of you is gonna change; it’s gonna be ‘Let’s Go Garry’ chants.”
Outside of the pre-fight friction, Makhachev (28-1 MMA) enters his first welterweight title defence after beating Maddalena.
The former lightweight king made history by moving up a weight class and now looks to establish a lasting reign atop the division.
Ireland’s Garry (17-1 MMA) will earn his first UFC title opportunity following a statement win over surging contender Carlos Prates in April 2025.
Garry aims to pull off the major upset, capture his first UFC belt and prove his striking is the ultimate equaliser against Dagestani wrestling.
The co-main event sees a high-stakes strawweight title clash as newly crowned champion Mackenzie Dern makes her first title defence against Gillian Robertson.
Dern (16-5 MMA) aims to use her elite world-championship Brazilian jiu-jitsu to stall her opponent’s momentum and retain UFC gold.
She admitted she doesn’t mind where the fight takes place, either standing up or on the ground.
“I’m the champ, so I’m doing everything,” Dern said.
