It wasn’t easy for Ian Garry in his octagon debut but the highly touted prospect from Ireland still made a huge impact with a stunning buzzer-beater knockout at UFC 268.
After his nose was bloodied from some stiff punches courtesy of Jordan Williams, Garry finally found the opening he wanted with just seconds remaining in the opening round. As Williams leapt forward with a combination, Garry countered with a perfectly timed punch that absolutely crushed his opponent on the jaw and sent him crashing to the canvas.
The fight was stopped with the official end time coming at 4:59 in the first round.
“We just shocked the world,” Garry said after paying homage to Williams for giving him a tough matchup in his UFC debut. “The Irish are back, baby! I’ve a lot to learn. I’m 23 years of age. We’re taking over the division.”
It was a slow start for Garry when the fight first began with Williams constantly moving forward on him and throwing two and three strike combinations. Garry was looking to set up his counter punches but Williams was doing a good job never allowing him the time to actually throw much of anything with force behind it.
That changed after the 10-second clapper rang out as Williams lunged into another flurry of punches but this time Garry unleashed his own that landed directly on target. Williams crumbled to the mat after the punch landed with Garry quickly celebrating his win and then quoting another famed Irishman, who also made quite an impact after he first arrived in the UFC.
“A wise Irishman once said before me, he stepped in this very cage and he said, we’re not here to take part, we’re here to take over,” Garry said when referencing former two-division champion Conor McGregor. “This is the takeover, part two.”
McGregor obviously liked what he saw from Garry in the cage.
You little fuckin daisy Ian! The step back, back paw an all ahahahaja just absolutely incredible!
Congrats @iangarryMMA ☘️ ❤️— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) November 6, 2021
