Belal Muhammad Unimpressed With Ian Garry’s UFC 330 Shenanigans

It looks like nobody wants to over-respect their opponents. Currently, Ian Garry hugging Islam Makhachev repeatedly has grabbed some significant headlines. Several fighters and critics have commented on the incident. And most of them had an adverse reaction. Joining the list, Belal Muhammad was the latest entrant who was unimpressed with the 28-year-old. 

Belal Muhammad Wants Ian Garry to Have Killer Instinct

With Makhachev on the verge of making UFC history, Garry had the perfect opportunity to play spoilsport. But then, he could not pull off an upset and lost the bout via unanimous decision. In between rounds, Garry could be spotted hugging Makhachev as an act of respect and brotherhood. While that is appreciable to a certain extent, Muhammad felt it made the Irish star lose focus. 

“What’s with this hugging? You’re down in the fifth round. You gotta have the killer instinct. You can’t waste an opportunity. You can’t waste a moment. And I felt like he definitely wasted moments. His face wasn’t beat up. You were losing. Mindset-wise, he needs to flip the switch. When Islam had the body triangle in, I was like, ‘Oh, it’s over.’ That was his checkmate moment,” Muhammad said. 

Surely, the former UFC welterweight champion is not the first one to react. In fact, Makhachev himself pointed out that Garry should not have shown so much respect in a brutal game such as the UFC. However, coach Javier Mendez had a differing view on the incident. 

Why Was Javier Mendez Scared About Ian Garry’s Hugging?

According to Makhachev’s coach, watching his opponent shake everybody’s hands was a sign that Garry was locked in. And that’s what bothered Mendez as he thought the Irishman would be in a dangerous mental state. 

Mendez said, “In my whole corner years, I have never seen that behavior of hugging and being too nice. I thought it was kind of genius. It made him comfortable, made him into his group."

In the fight, Garry showed resilience. He defended the takedowns significantly well and also landed a lot of significant strikes. He even bled Makhachev’s face with some vicious knuckles.