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‘Check the bank accounts, check the bookmakers’

VaselineJuly 2, 2024

0 2 minutes read

‘Check the bank accounts, check the bookmakers’

Ian Machado Garry doubles down on accusations against “MVP”.

The lead-up to UFC 303 has been chaotic, to say the least. The postponement of the main event between Conor McGregor and Michael Chandler dominated headlines in the weeks leading up to International Fight Week, and the carousel of replacement fighters being drafted into (and subsequently pulled from) the co-main event slot has been mind-boggling.

The bizarre shift in the fight schedule continued well into the day of the fight, when Dan Ige was called up at the last minute to replace Brian Ortega against Diego Lopes in a scene never before seen in UFC history.

Amidst all the chaos surrounding the matchmaking, one of the more interesting stories to emerge from the pre-match press conference was Ian Machado Garry’s accusation that his opponent Michael ‘Venom’ Page had attempted to bribe his team (Chute Boxe) for information about his training camp and match plan.

Garry claims he has evidence of the attempted bribery, but that his team rejected the advances.

During the press conference following his unanimous victory over ‘MVP’, ‘The Future’ reiterated the allegations.

“We do all these drug tests, we do all these things to say, ‘You’re clean, you’re not doing drugs’… and someone came here and offered me money for my information from my team? Thank God Chute Boxe is fucking solid,” the Irishman said. “Thank God Chute Boxe says ‘No’… we shut it down and locked everything down, nothing went out. We had a blackout on Instagram and everything and social media.”

‘That’s dirty and that’s cheating’ – Garry won’t let Page off the hook

Garry said at the post-match press conference that he has already reported the allegations to the authorities and also questioned whether his opponent has a history of such behaviour – and whether there is evidence of links to gambling.

“I told the (Nevada State Athletic) Commission, they said, ‘Look, there’s no rule against it.’ I said, ‘Let’s make sure there is, because it’s cheating and it’s dirty and we can’t do all those things in terms of testing and making sure the sport is clean, and then people are dirty in other areas. So let’s make a rule.

“And has anyone ever made any money from it? Have there ever been any side bets on it? If you know what I know and I’m putting money on it because we have inside information, it’s f**kin dirty…so that’s what I think when I said there should be a life ban. I believe if you go and check the bank accounts and the bookies, I guarantee that somewhere along the way money has been made, and that’s dirty and that’s cheating to me.”

Read more: Ian Garry frustrated with getting new decision