"Chinese Conor McGregor" - Ali Abdelaziz castigates Ian Machado Garry before title fight with Islam Makhachev at UFC 330

Ian Machado Garry is counted among the most successful, albeit polarizing, athletes in the sport of MMA today.

Garry is on the cusp of his maiden UFC title shot, as he'll challenge reigning UFC welterweight kingpin -- Dagestan's Islam Makhachev -- on August 15. Their highly anticipated championship showdown will headline UFC 330 in Philadelphia. 

The 28-year-old UFC star has now faced criticism from Makhachev's longtime friend and manager, Ali Abdelaziz, who also happens to be regarded as a polarizing individual in the mixed martial arts realm. 

Ali Abdelaziz and others from the Islam Makhachev camp have downplayed Ian Machado Garry's comparisons to Conor McGregor

On his part, Ian Machado Garry had famously met Irish combat sports icon Conor McGregor as a youngster and gotten inspired to pursue MMA. Incidentally, one of McGregor's fiercest rivals happens to be Makhachev's friend, former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. 

Garry has consistently drawn parallels between the highly personal and intense McGregor-Nurmagomedov rivalry and his own ongoing feud against Islam Makhachev.

Nevertheless, Makhachev and his camp have largely scoffed at the comparisons, arguing that Garry's current star power can't be compared to McGregor's and that the Garry-Makhachev rivalry is primarily professional with minimal personal grudges. 

Ali Abdelaziz labels Ian Machado Garry a "Chinese Conor McGregor" and unleashes a tirade against the UFC 330 headliner

During a recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast hosted by former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo and ex-UFC welterweight titlist Kamaru Usman, Ali Abdelaziz took aim at Ian Machado Garry. 

Abdelaziz yet again downplayed Garry's opinion that his feud against Islam Makhachev is the new version of Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, the iconic Ireland vs. Dagestan rivalry. 

The MMA manager appeared to acknowledge that Garry does possess good footwork and is a tough matchup for most fighters, but he insinuated that the Dubliner is no match for Makhachev. 

Abdelaziz claimed that Garry lacks the finishing instincts inside the Octagon, while Makhachev doesn't. He jibed at the towering fighter's physical appearance, stating: 

"This little skinny Irish kid, with a small -- 30, 31, 30 size waist -- he's gonna get grabbed up and smashed by Islam Makhachev. One thing I can promise you is gonna happen." 

Abdelaziz underscored that he truly believes that Makhachev would do so. Additionally, he seemingly alluded to the hypothesis that Chinese knock-off versions of products tend to be substandard. Labeling Garry as one such knock-off version of McGregor, he said: 

"He's a Chinese Conor McGregor. He's a Chinese version, knock-off version of Conor McGregor. He's not Conor McGregor. He doesn't fight like Conor McGregor. You like it or not, Conor McGregor was a bad dude at one point. He was one of the best fighters ever at one point." 

He added, "Let's be real, this guy (Ian Machado Garry), he runs. Conor fights. This dude (Garry), he doesn't even know how to talk." 

The Dominance MMA management founder jabbed at how "The Future" speaks. Abdelaziz seemed to suggest that English is Garry's first language, while it's not for him, but he still speaks better English than the welterweight contender. 

Moreover, he even alluded to Garry's remarks regarding his wanting to see women run the world, which elicited considerable backlash for the young UFC fighter. The MMA personality added, "Brother, Ian Garry has lost his b**ls. And he will lose everything August 15th. Mark my words." 

Watch Ali Abdelaziz go off against Ian Machado Garry below (*comments at the 28:14-minute mark of the video):