If you think Ian Machado Garry couldn’t beat Michael “Venom” Page, he thinks you’re wrong.
At UFC 303, Garry earned his eighth career UFC victory, defeating Page by unanimous decision in the opening bout of the main card. The bout was hard-fought, with Garry securing a takedown and back control in the first round and nearly securing a rear-naked choke, but Page ultimately defended it.
Looking back, “The Future” isn't satisfied with his performance.
“I'm furious. I'm absolutely furious,” Ghaly said. MMA Hour“It should have happened in the first round. There should have never been a second or third round. It should have gone 'Ian Machado, Gary gets him from behind and knocks him unconscious.' That's how it should have been. It keeps me up at night, it's burning in my head. It's my competitive spirit. I'm a perfectionist and I should have ended the fight there and then.”
Instead, Page survived the submission attempts and the rest of the bout was hard fought. From that point on, Page won most of the striking exchanges and even had the upper hand for a while in the third round when Garry pulled his guard. However, later in the round, Garry was able to secure a takedown again and transition to back control, which was enough to win the round and the bout, at least according to the judges.
Some fans disagreed with the judges' decision, arguing that Page won the final two rounds and that Garry should have scored the first round a draw, 10-8, and that UFC CEO Dana White also called it a draw, but Garry wholeheartedly disagrees.
“You're talking nonsense. Watch the fight again,” Gary responded. “I won the first round. The thing is, there are more claims that I won all three rounds than there are claims that it was a draw. That's the way I see it. I dominated the first round. Nobody in the world would argue with that. The third round, I won, obviously. Somehow I ended up on the bottom. We had a weird exchange of punches. I ended up on the bottom. I landed elbows from the bottom, tight and dirty. I took the damage when I let go of his back. Then I took him down and got his back and hit him back a little. It wasn't a lot of damage, but nothing from 'MVP.'”
“So the first and third rounds were clearly mine. The second round is debatable. As an opponent I would give the win to MVP. As someone who was in the fight, I felt I could have won the second round, but I give the win to MVP in the second round because he finished the round strong. He had three good combinations that did the most damage in the round, so I understand giving it to him. But there's no basis to sit here and say, 'Fuck it, it's a draw.' It's more debatable to say I won all three rounds.”
To bolster his argument, Ghaly also pointed out that Page himself appeared to applaud in agreement as the verdict was read out from inside the cage.
“29-28 unanimous decision,” Gary said. “I think it was clear after the first and third round that I won. … So I was confident that I would be able to raise my hand at the end of the match. I knew I won the match. Me and MVP both knew that I won. He was clapping before I raised my hand because he knew. We both knew who won the dance and who was leading. I was in control. It was clear to both of us that I won. 29-28 was the right score for me.”
With the win, Gary improved his professional record to 15-0.
