No. 1-ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight contender Ian Garry finally gets his shot at UFC gold when he takes on reigning 170-pound kingpin Islam Makhachev in the main event of UFC 330, which goes down Sat., Aug. 15, 2026, inside Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
And with a little more than 50 days until the biggest fight of his career, Garry has added a very interesting name to his team.
“Congratulations Matchroom Talent Agency, you’ve signed the future,” Garry wrote on Instagram. “I’m excited to announce Team Future just got bigger. Alongside Vayner Sports, I’ll be joining The Matchroom Talent Agency — who will now work across my commercial interests.”
There is one key distinction between Garry and Aspinall.
Unlike Aspinall, who has Hearn representing him both in and out of the cage — including contracts, fights and sponsors — Garry will only be using Matchroom Talent Agency for marketing and commercial opportunities. Garry’s current management team, Vayner Sports, will continue handling UFC-related business, including contracts and fight negotiations.
Still, the timing is interesting.
UFC CEO Dana White and Hearn have been sending shots over boxing for a while now — and recently they have been getting business-personal with White taking shots at Hearn’s boxing business and Hearn firing right back at UFC’s pay structure. Hearn even claimed he “nearly fell off the f—king chair” when he saw Aspinall’s current pay.
So, yeah, Garry signing with Hearn right before his first UFC title fight is at least worth an eyebrow raise.
The big question is whether the move affects Garry’s standing with the promotion, especially with White and Hearn currently at each other’s throats. On paper, it should not matter because Hearn is only working on Garry’s commercial interests, not his UFC deal.
But this is the fight game, and weird things happen all the time.
For now, Garry remains locked in for the biggest opportunity of his career against the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
He just added one of White’s loudest rivals to the team before getting there.
