Irish UFC welterweight Ian Machado Garry has teamed up with boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, signing with Matchroom Talent Agency just two months before his first UFC championship fight. The 28-year-old announced the deal on Wednesday via Instagram, and it is a move that signals serious ambition beyond the Octagon.
Ian Machado Garry and Eddie Hearn: The Partnership That’s Turning Heads
Garry (17-1) made clear he is keeping his existing management structure intact. Vayner Sports remain in his corner, with Matchroom Talent Agency now stepping in to handle his commercial interests alongside them. “Congratulations @matchroomtalentagency you’ve signed THE FUTURE,” Garry wrote on Instagram. “I’m excited to announce Team Future just Got Bigger.”
Furthermore, Garry becomes the second high-profile UFC athlete to align with Hearn, following undisputed heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall. Given the very public war of words between Hearn and UFC and Zuffa Boxing CEO Dana White, this signing carries extra weight. White and Hearn have clashed over several flashpoints — Zuffa Boxing’s capture of British fighter Conor Benn earlier this year, the perceived fairness of Aspinall’s UFC contract, and White’s reported involvement in a potential blockbuster bout between Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.
UFC 330: Garry Challenges Islam Makhachev in Philadelphia
The timing of this announcement is deliberate. On 15th August, Garry steps into the biggest fight of his career, challenging UFC welterweight champion Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 330 in Philadelphia. That is a mountain of an assignment — Makhachev is considered by many to be pound-for-pound the finest fighter on the planet right now.
Nevertheless, Garry has never lacked for self-belief, and linking up with one of boxing’s most powerful operators only reinforces the sense that he is building something much larger than just a fight camp. Whether he can back it all up on 15th August is another matter entirely — but nobody in MMA does a grand entrance quite like Ian Machado Garry. Follow all the UFC 330 build-up on ESPN.