Conor McGregor has said that Ian Garry is doing "all the right things" as he prepares for his second UFC outing this weekend.
The former two-weight world champion is preparing for a return to the octagon of his own, and is excited to watch his countryman as he faces Darian Weeks at UFC 273. Garry will compete on the prelims against fellow recently-signed welterweight Weeks, who lost his short-notice debut, but is a considerable step-up in competition.
The Dublin duo have exchanged messages on social media both publicly and in private, with Garry admitting that it was watching McGregor's famous world title fights that inspired him to purse MMA. And speaking to Mirror Fighting today in Dublin, McGregor shared his support again for his fellow fighter.
"I wish him well," McGregor said of Garry. "He's doing all the right things, Ian is. He's hitting all the right buttons. But he hits the button of the chin best so I'm excited to see him back in there representing Ireland."
Garry spoke earlier this week about his excitement over being linked to McGregor, explaining that he has idolised the Dubliner since his teens. "We're talking about the biggest star in the sport," he told reporters at a media day ahead of his fight.
"This is someone who absolutely I can attribute a lot of my career to, in regards to where if it wan't for him I don't know how long it would have taken me to find this sport. He made it very easy for me to know what I wanted to do.
"Watching his rise, watching his fights with my friends, with everyone watching the energy and the joy around Ireland and the excitement around his performances was what made me want to be here. Walking into school on a Monday morning after the fight on the early hours of Sunday morning, everybody wanted to talk about him.
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"Everyone was mentioning what he did, the post-fight press conferences where he goes '50 Gs baby!' Anyone who does that since now is just copying Conor. They've every right to try and say that, but it's linked back to Conor."
Garry landed a massive first round knockout over Jordan Williams in his debut at UFC 268 last November, and channeled his inner McGregor when speaking to Joe Rogan after the fact. He declared that he was leading the 'takeover part 2', in reference to the Irishman's famous speech after UFC Dublin when he defeated Diego Brandao.
Meanwhile, McGregor looks set to join him in the welterweight division when he returns to the octagon later this year. He told Mirror Fighting today : "I'm looking forward to getting back into the octagon - we'll see what happens, the leg's getting better every day, I think 170 is where I'm aiming for, I feel good at this weight."
