‘Ian Garry would have won if he ate a steak’: Pros react to Islam Makhachev eking out title fight win at UFC 330

Islam Makhachev is still welterweight champion, but it wasn’t an easy night at the office for him as he was put to the test by a game Ian Machado Garry.

In the end, Makhachev used his elite wrestling—and one well-timed head kick—to outpoint Garry and earn a unanimous decision win in the UFC 330 main event Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. With the win, Makhachev breaks a tie with Anderson Silva for the most consecutive victories in UFC history at 17.

He also joins Henry Cejudo, Daniel Cormier, Jon Jones, and Amanda Nunes as the only fighter to successfully defend UFC championships in two divisions after previously reigning as lightweight king.

While it was a disappointing night for Garry, he can hold his head high knowing he made Makhachev work for his latest title defense, and MMA personality Brendan Schaub even suggested he could have made a tactical tweak to put his performance over the top.

“Ian Garry would have won if he ate a steak,” Schaub wrote on Twitter.

See more pros reactions to the UFC 330 main event below.