Ian Machado Garry doubles down on his allegations against “MVP”.
The lead up to UFC 303 was chaotic to say the least. The postponement of the main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler dominated the headlines in the weeks before International Fight Week, and the carousel of replacement fighters that were drafted into (and subsequently fell back out of) the co-main event slot beggared belief.
The bizarre fight card shake-up continued well into fight day, as Dan Ige was drafted in at the last second to replace Brian Ortega opposite Diego Lopes in scenes never witnessed before in UFC history.
Amidst all the matchmaking chaos, one of the more interesting stories to emerge from the pre-fight press conference was Ian Machado Garry’s accusation that his opponent Michael ‘Venom’ Page had attempted to bribe his team (Chute Boxe) for information regarding his training camp and game plan.
Garry maintains that he has proof of the attempted bribe but that his team rebuffed the advances.
Speaking at the press conference after his unanimous decision victory over ‘MVP’ ‘The Future’ doubled down on the accusations.
“We do all these drug tests, we do all this stuff to go, ‘you’re clean, you’re not doing drugs’…but someone came out here and offered money for my information from my team? Thank God Chute Boxe is f**kin rock solid” said the Irishman. “Thank God Chute Boxe go ‘No’…we shut it down and we locked everything down, nothing went out. We had a blackout on Instagram and stuff and socials”.
‘That’s Filthy And That’s Cheating’ – Garry Doesn’t Let Page Off The Hook
Garry said in the post-fight press conference that he has already reported the allegations to the powers-that-be and also queried whether his opponent may have a history of this kind of behavior – and whether there may be evidence of links to gambling.
“For me, I said to the (Nevada State Athletic) Commission, they were like, ‘Look, there’s no rules against it’. I was like, ‘Well let’s make sure there is, because it’s cheating and it’s dirty and we can’t be doing all this stuff when it comes to testing and making sure the sport’s clean, and then people are being dirty in other regards. So let’s make a rule.
“And also, has anyone ever made money on it? Has there ever been any side bets on it? If you know what I know and I’m putting money on it because we have inside information it’s f**kin dirty…so that’s what I think when I said there should be suspension for life. I believe that if you go check the bank accounts and if you go check the bookies I guarantee there’s been some money won somewhere along the line, and that’s filthy and that’s cheating to me”.
Read More: Ian Garry Frustrated At Getting Another Decision
