Garry’s climb up the ladder is an interesting subplot in the
welterweight division, since the Irishman has one of the highest
upsides in the sport. It took Garry a shade over two years to prove
everything he needed to at the regional level, as “The Future” more
or less checked every box through his first seven fights. He is a
solid athlete with a large frame for the division and showed an
ability to hold his own—and flashed some finishing ability—in every
phase of his fights. His two UFC appearances have shown some issues
that Garry needs to work on. Jordan
Williams’ pressure was enough to clip Garry a few times until
the Irishman scored a knockout, and Darian
Weeks was able to neutralize him in a grind for large swaths of
a Garry decision win. Nevertheless, Garry continues to look better
each time out, and he has enough charisma in his post-fight
interviews to paper over any drawbacks in his performances. He gets
his toughest test yet in Green, an entertaining and underrated
welterweight entrant that would have a better reputation with a
more active schedule. Green’s approach works better than it should,
as he is an undersized welterweight whose striking is often
awkward. “Gifted Gabriel” finds his path to victory through sheer
attrition, pressuring his opponents and throwing volume while
relying on his durability to see him through the fight. There is a
decent chance that this is Garry’s prospect loss, as the Williams
fight showed that he can border on overconfidence and leave himself
open to an opponent willing to stay fearless and sell out on
offense. However, he looked much more poised in the Weeks fight,
and the fact is that even if Green gets the type of match he wants,
the American leaves himself open enough on defense that Garry could
just hit him at will in return. Add in that Garry’s wrestling and
grappling could find some success against Green’s suspect takedown
defense, and the top prospect gets the nod. The pick is Garry via
tough decision.
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