Did ‘The Future’ ‘Remember the Name’?
Ian Machado Garry unanimously dominated Belal Muhammad in their encounter at UFC Fight Night on November 22nd, 2025. However, this victory should be discussed. ‘The Future’ or Garry really defined the first round by maintaining reach as predicted before this fight. The maintenance of reach did cost him some technique, as it would appear he made an unintentional eye cut to ‘Remember The Name’. Garry did seem to understand the warning given after that, and what started to seal Round 1 in his favor was his constant assault on Belal’s legs, where blow after blow landed Muhammad on his feet. Belal did show effort, too, by shooting for the takedown as well as returning a right punch once they were separated from the grapple exchange. Round One ended shortly after this with Garry scoring a 10-9 decision against Belal. In review of this round, it was also apparent that Belal did not close the distance to eliminate the reach of ‘The Future’.
Belal did understand the significance of the aftermath, at least in terms of going for a submission rather than landing multiple strikes. Round Two had Muhammad executing a clinch faster to set up a takedown, but Garry learned this takedown strategy from their previous round and simply defended, which created space between the two fighters. This is the moment when the fight strategy should’ve changed drastically for Belal, but it did not. Had he considered at that moment that Garry’s defence was advanced enough to fight off the grappler, then he could’ve closed the distance and rained down the punches he had gained from past KO/TKO victories. The legs of Belal could’ve been suffering from Garry’s onslaught at this point, thereby eliminating the option for him to efficiently move around the cage.
Regardless, once Round Three started, it seemed Belal’s corner knew he needed to submit Garry this round or ‘Remember The Name’ was slated to lose by decision at the end of the round. This part of the fight was simply a repeat of the same strategy Garry had been using in the whole fight, with further nasty combinations of counters, a solid connect with a spinning back fist, and a leg kick. Belal mustered a response at the end and nailed a solid elbow. Unfortunately, the ending saw the unanimous decision of 30-27 for Garry. This does mean that the once Welterweight title holder, that is ‘Remember The Name’, may recoup and come out stronger next year. If he does, Garry would welcome a rematch as each fighter truly tested the other in this war that was mainly fought while standing. Garry even exhibited a nice grappling reversal that threw Belal off in Round Two! Overall, Garry is one to watch going forward as he progresses to an eventual title shot, while Belal can be remembered from this fight as the former Welterweight title holder on a historic path back to reclaim the title!
