Garry claims UFC locked in main event date as Morales feud turns public

Ian Garry has publicly declared he accepted a UFC main event slot against Michael Morales, escalating a social media feud between two of the welterweight division’s most prominent contenders. The Irishman posted on Instagram that a date has been locked in and that he personally messaged Morales to confirm his willingness to fight.

The back-and-forth began when Morales released a video on Sunday naming welterweight champion Islam Makhachev, Carlos Prates, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Garry as potential opponents. After taking measured digs at the first three, the unbeaten Ecuadorian saved his sharpest words for Garry. “Oh, I almost forgot about you,” Morales said. “F*ck you, Ian Garry.”

Garry responded by reposting a previous clip of the two interacting and fired back with a pointed message of his own. “I’ve said YES,” he wrote on Instagram. “The date is locked in. Main event and you’re making excuses already. UFC sent the date. I DM’d you myself. You make it all public, but behind the scenes I’m getting a different message. The world knows I’m anyone, anytime… How long has it been since he’s fought?”

Garry is seeking to bounce back after suffering a unanimous decision loss to Makhachev at UFC 330 in August, a defeat that stalled his title ambitions. Morales, by contrast, enters the conversation on the back of a dominant run — the 19-0 Ecuadorian has won seven consecutive UFC bouts, finishing Sean Brady, Gilbert Burns, and Neil Magny inside the first round.

Despite that record, Morales finds himself behind Carlos Prates in the queue for a title shot, with Prates considered the current front-runner for the next welterweight championship opportunity. A high-profile main event win over Garry would strengthen Morales’s case considerably, which makes his apparent reluctance to confirm the bout — at least according to Garry — all the more puzzling.

Whether the fight is officially signed remains unclear. Garry’s claim that the UFC has already sent a date suggests the promotion is keen to make it happen, but Morales has yet to publicly confirm the booking.