Ian Machado Garry found himself in a challenging striking battle with Michael Page tonight at UFC 303 that led to him using wrestling and grappling to edge towards a decision win.
Round One:
Page presses forward immediately but misses on a leg kick attempt.
Page light on his feet as he takes the center of the cage here. He misses on an upkick.
Head kick attempt from Garry misses. Page in with a punch and then back out.
Page with a high kick, but Garry avoids it and then works a takedown off it. Big moment for him early in the fight.
page getting his back against the cage and looking to stand. Garry tries to keep him down and does manage to do so, then works around to the back.
Garry gets the body triangle in now with half the round remaining. Garry goes for the rear-naked choke. It starts to go in deeper. Page punching behind him which doesn’t do him much good.
Page still surviving though and then manages to fight off the choke for now. He’s still stuck in that body triangle though.
Final 10 seconds of the round and Garry is comfortable as he lands a few lights punches.
Round Two:
Garry misses a punch and Page counters with a big right hand that lands clean.
Missed kick from Garry. Overhand right from Page just grazes the target.
Lunging punch from Page. Garry just trying to stand his ground and look for counters. He fires off a short combo when page comes forward.
Looping punch from Page misses and Garry clinches up against the cage. Knee to the body for Garry then a couple of the leg. Hammerfists to the thigh from Page.
Garry trying to sweep Page to the mat but unable to get him down to the mat again yet.
Garry drops down on a leg lock attempt. Page standing over him. Garry is able to force him down to the mat with this. Page able to break free of the submission though and back to his feet.
Quick one-two from Page. Garry not really engaging as he normally would due to Page’s speed and unpredictable offense. Page attempts a flying knee and then follows up with punches. Missed punch and spinning kick from Garry at the end of the round.
Round Three:
Jab for Garry. Now a calf kick. Body kick for him. Page attempts to move in and strike, but Garry ducks and tries for the takedown, but ends up pulling guard instead.
Garry closes up his guard here rather than staying open for potential submission attempts. Curious strategy. Page backs up and stands with half the round remaining.
Swing and a miss from Page. Jab for him. Garry goes for a takedown and partially gets it, then quickly moves around to the back. Page standing but garry hops onto his back.
90 seconds remaining and Page is leaning over trying to dislodge Garry from his back.
Garry trying to get his arm under the neck, but gives up on that and throws a couple of punches.
30 seconds to go and not too much happening other than a few light punches from Garry while Page is still hunched over awkwardly. We’re headed to the scorecards.
Decision:
Page proved to be the sharper striker here, but Garry showed there’s more to his game than that as he worked for wrestling opportunities and the occasional submission to eek out a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
