Top UFC welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry has signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Talent Agency. Following heavyweight kingpin Tom Aspinall, Garry is now the second fighter to sign with Hearn’s MTA. “The Future” was the first to confirm this news, via an Instagram post captioned:
“Congratulations @matchroomtalentagency, you’ve signed THE FUTURE 😜 I’m excited to announce Team Future just Got Bigger. Alongside @vaynersports, I’ll be joining The Matchroom Talent Agency – who will now work across my commercial interests.”
Check out Ian Machado Garry’s post below:
Ian Machado Garry is next in line to lock horns with UFC welterweight champion and pound-for-pound king, Islam Makhachev, at UFC 330 in August.
Matchroom talent agency will work across Garry’s commercial interests. Welcoming the Irishman to the family, the agency confirmed the signing in a post captioned:
“Only the best 🤝 Welcome to the family, @iangarry 🔥”
Check out the post below:
Eddie Hearn discusses Ian Machado Garry’s deal with Matchroom Talent Agency
Eddie Hearn, who also appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show moments before, told Helwani that Tom Aspinall’s signing sparked interest across the UFC and MMA, after which several fighters reached out to explore joining Matchroom Talent Agency. Heard said:
“We have signed Ian Machado Garry to the Matchroom Talent Agency to join Tom Aspinall as our second UFC fighter… Through [Tom’s] signing, we had a dozen UFC and MMA guys come to us and say, ‘How do we get represented by you guys?’”
Hearn made it clear that Matchroom Talent Agency is a “sports agency” focused on representing high-profile global stars across sports and entertainment, not just MMA.
The Matchroom boss opined that Garry is the perfect fit for his agency and, therefore, he reached out to the 28-year-old. He praised the way “The Future” speaks and carries himself, and the latter’s “potential to become a crossover star.” Hearn added that if Garry wins in August, he could become a global superstar.
The Brit also clarified that he won’t be handling Ian Machado Garry’s UFC negotiations or contracts. Instead, his agency will concentrate on marketing opportunities, sponsorship deals, and building the Irishman’s brand, and his old management will handle the UFC side of things.
“Our relationship is different from Tom’s deal. Now we are a lot more strategic with Tom on the UFC side now. With Ian, this is about building his brand, driving revenue to him with partners… This is purely to work on his profile and his commercial brand.”
We won’t be having dealings with the UFC regarding Ian Garry. That contract is set; he’s got his fight coming up. It’s very different to the Tom Aspinall scenario. I didn’t feel this was a sort of confrontational signing… I look at Ian Garry as a potential superstar of sport… This isn’t about us having meetings with UFC. He’s got his own team of people that do that side.”
Check out Eddie Hearn’s comments about Ian Machado Garry below:
Eddie Hearn’s agency’s main goal is to establish a representation agency for athletes with high commercial power and demand, and the former wanted Garry to be a part of it.
