“Looks like this guy doesn’t believe in me🧐” Yaroslav Amosov wrote on X on Sunday, hours after the UFC paired him with Ian Machado Garry for UFC Saudi Arabia.
The post quoted Turkish journalist Kerem Akbilek, who resurfaced an interview clip as soon as the fight was announced. According to Akbilek’s post, he asked Garry about Amosov’s arrival in the UFC exactly one year earlier, and Garry said he didn’t know who Amosov was and that fighters coming over from Bellator had failed. Akbilek added that his one dream is for the UFC to use his question in the fight’s promo. MMA Sucka reported that Garry has reacted to the booking, though his words weren’t included in the material available to Knockout Daily.
The matchup landed late Saturday night. Championship Rounds posted that the UFC named Israel Adesanya vs. Shara Bullet as the main event, with Garry vs. Amosov in the co-main, and that the Garry fight will go 5 rounds, per the UFC broadcast. Bovada gave the matchmakers credit for how this Riyadh Fight Night came together, while some fans think the order is backwards. “Ian Garry vs Yaroslav Amosov should be headlining 🤷♂️” wrote X user @DovySimuMMA.
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What’s on the line
Garry, the former Cage Warriors welterweight champion from Portmarnock, was ranked No. 2 at 170 pounds as of June 20, 2026. His lone pro loss came in a 5-round title eliminator against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December 2024, and he followed it by beating Carlos Prates by unanimous decision in an April 2025 main event. Before Rakhmonov, he’d gone the distance and won against Neil Magny, Geoff Neal and Michael Page.
Amosov sits at No. 8 in the Knockout Daily welterweight rankings with a 30-1 record. He fights out of American Top Team, held the Bellator welterweight title and is a four-time world sambo champion. His Bellator run included a decision over three-time NCAA Division I champion Ed Ruth and a brabo choke on David Rickels, the first submission loss of Rickels’ career. His last fight was May 9, 2026.
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So the man who reportedly waved off Bellator talent now has to spend up to 25 minutes against a sambo world champion who has lost once in 31 fights. Garry beating him keeps the Irishman in the title picture. Amosov beating the No. 2 guy, after that clip, would be a very loud way to answer it.
UFC Fight Night 295 takes place December 5, 2026, in Riyadh. If Akbilek gets his wish, that question shows up in the promo package well before then.
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