Makhachev defends welterweight title against Garry at UFC 330 in Philadelphia

Islam Makhachev will put his UFC welterweight title on the line against Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 on August 15 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, the promotion confirmed on Wednesday. Mackenzie Dern will defend her strawweight championship against Gillian Robertson in the co-main event.

Makhachev (28-1) claimed the welterweight title with a dominant decision over Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322, having previously held the lightweight belt and defended it a record four consecutive times before vacating and moving up to 170 pounds. Since his only career defeat in 2015, the Dagestani has won 16 fights in a row.

Garry (17-1) has been publicly pushing for this matchup for months amid persistent rumours that he would be Makhachev’s first challenger at welterweight. “The Future” started his career 15-0 before dropping a decision to Shavkat Rakhmonov, but has since bounced back with consecutive wins over former welterweight champion Belal Muhammad and Carlos Prates to earn his shot.

Dern (16-5) claimed the vacant strawweight title at UFC 321 this past October, defeating Virna Jandiroba after champion Zhang Weili vacated the belt to pursue a fight with flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko. The Brazilian-American grappler now makes her first title defense.

Her challenger, Canada’s Robertson (17-8), is a former flyweight who has gone 6-1 since dropping to the 115-pound division. Robertson arrives on a five-fight winning streak, most recently outpointing one-time title challenger Amanda Lemos in March.