Daniel Rodriguez doesn’t think Ian Garry can hang on the feet with him.
Rodriguez (17-3 MMA, 7-2 UFC) meets unbeaten rising star Garry (11-0 MMA, 4-0) at UFC on ABC 4 on May 13, which takes place at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. Rodriguez marks Garry’s sternest test to date, but it was Garry who asked for the fight.
Garry is coming off his most impressive showing yet, putting on a striking clinic on veteran Song Kenan before getting the stoppage at UFC 285 in March. But Garry was dropped in Round 1 before getting in his flow state, and Rodriguez wasn’t impressed with his performance.
“Ian Garry said he’s gonna put hands on me,” Rodriguez told Inside Fighting. “He said he’s gonna outstrike me and there’s no better striker than him. How much you want to bet he goes for a takedown? I know he’s undefeated, but in the UFC – he got dropped by a scrub his last fight. He was supposed to win that fight.”
Rodriguez has fought the likes of Neil Magny, Li Jingliang, and Kevin Lee. Meanwhile, Garry’s biggest win came over Kenan, who was returning from a two-year long layoff when they fought. “D-Rod” expects to present Garry problems that he hasn’t experienced before.
“He ain’t fought nobody yet,” Rodriguez said. “He ain’t fought nobody like me. I’m going to be in his grill the whole time… I’m going to break him. I’m going to break his will. I see myself finishing the fight. He ain’t been hit by nobody like me. I’m different. Everybody knows it. Even my last fight, I took an L, but I was backing homeboy up the whole time. Ian Garry’s saying he’s gonna oustrike me. We’ll see.”
