When Ian Machado Garry was asked about Carlos Prates’ lifestyle choices before the pair’s welterweight bout on Saturday, he preferred to focus on the fight.
Brazil’s Prates, 31, has said he is “trying to smoke less to get fitter and healthier”, admitting he has been smoking up to 10 cigarettes a day in the build-up to facing the Irishman at UFC Fight Night in Kansas City, Missouri.
It is unusual for high-level athletes to smoke, given the health risks of cigarettes which can include cardiovascular disease, lung disease and lung cancer.
“The dude smokes cigarettes, meanwhile I’m in Brazil his whole country want me to win. That’s his life choices and nothing for me to get involved in,” said Machado Garry.
“Saturday he’s going to step into the octagon with someone who’s a complete professional. I’m going to manhandle him and there’s nothing he can do to stop me.”
Prates, who has won his first four fights in the UFC, all by knockout, has said he would like to quit smoking entirely in the future, but has found it “hard”.
After his win over Neil Magny in November, Prates asked if he could smoke a cigarette in his post-fight news conference but said his request was denied as smoking was forbidden in the area.
When asked by the media if he would share a cigarette with Prates after their contest on Saturday, Machado Garry, 27, suggested a different idea.
“I don’t smoke so I won’t. But I can sit down and talk about how I knocked him out and I can teach him how to get a little better,” he said.
The headlining fight was made between Machado Garry and Prates after Jamahal Hill withdrew injured from his bout with Khalil Rountree at the beginning of the month.
It is the second fight in a row that Machado Garry has stepped in on short notice after replacing Belal Muhammad in December before a narrow defeat by Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“It speaks to the character and the person I am. I’m Dublin born and bred, they call us the fighting Irish for a reason,” said Machado Garry.
“When you call me and say “hey Ian, do you want to fight?” There’s only one answer.”
Machado Garry’s loss to Rakhmonov was the first of his 16-fight career and ended his impressive eight-fight win streak in the UFC.
The Irishman is currently ranked seventh in the UFC welterweight rankings, with Prates six places below him in 13th.
Of Machado Garry’s eight wins since his UFC debut in 2021, three have come by knockout, meaning he has a 37.5% finish rate compared to Prates’ 100%.
The Irishman has said he prefers longer fights, however, where he can outclass and “dominate” his opponents over five rounds.
Despite lacking the knockout power of Prates, Machado Garry still has some of the best striking statistics in the UFC’s welterweight division.
He is sixth on the list for significant strike accuracy at 55%, with title challenger Della Maddalena fifth with 55.2% and former champion Leon Edwards eighth with 54.2% in comparison.
Machado Garry is also eighth on the list for striking differential at 1.9.
The Irishman says a win over Prates should put him next in line for a title shot, with champion Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena fighting for the belt at UFC 315 on 11 May.
