But one spectator who was not amused by the clap back was former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. “The Eagle” now serves as head coach for Makhachev and scolded the reigning UFC welterweight titleholder for his handling of the Ian Garry remarks at Thursday night’s media festivities.
“Ian Garry was talking very nicely about him,” Nurmagomedov said. “[Islam] said ‘shut up.’ Be nice, brother. Sometimes, maybe you don’t like somebody, but when somebody give you respect, at least be quiet. Don’t say ‘shut up.’ You wanna say it’s not good when someone interrupts you? Tell him, [don’t] interrupt.”
Makhachev blamed the crowd noise for his reaction.
Makhachev defends his welterweight title against Garry atop the UFC 330 fight card on Paramount+ this Sat. night (Aug. 15, 2026) at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
