The future is inevitable for Irish Cage Warriors star Ian Garry, and a tattoo on his chest reminds him of that every day.
Nicknamed 'The Future', the undefeated Dubliner (5-0) sets his sights on a title belt and the UFC at CW 121 this Friday.
Garry can move a step closer to the vacant welterweight belt in the semi-finals of a title eliminator, with a title fight planned for June.
A highly-rated prospect, Garry faces experienced Swedish opponent Rostem Akman (6-2) in the second of a trilogy of fight nights this weekend.
But for someone who loves every minute he spends in the cage, it's the pre-fight training and formalities of fight week that gets in the way of the fun.
"I'm feeling really good," Garry told the Irish Mirror. "I kind of hate these days, I just want to get over there and fight.
"Packing the bag makes it that bit more real, because you know you're going over there, but this is where the excitement starts to kick in.
"For me the fighting's fun, I get to go in there and compete against another man. I'm a competitor more so than a fighter, and that's why I win.
"Everything for me gets emotional, I fight emotionally, I train emotionally and my whole week is about emotion.
"The hardest part is getting through fight camp without any injuries and making sure your weight is on point - being able to weigh-in in the best way possible.
"Fighting for me is the fun part".
At a critical stage of his career, Garry sees this weekend as a chance to prove to fans why he goes by the nickname 'The Future'.
And with the UFC known to keep a close eye on the biggest stars emerging from Cage Warriors, Garry reckons it's only a matter of time before they come knocking if he can get the win and seal a summer title shot.
He continued: "It's a massive fight and a massive opportunity for me to go out there and showcase my skill and to keep proving to everyone what I've said.
"That I am the guy and everything I've been saying since day one - That I am the future, I am the next big thing, that I should be the champion and I will go to the UFC.
"I'm just two fights away from getting to that elite level and signing for the UFC.
"I'm just going to get these two fights done, get that belt wrapped around my waist, sign for the UFC and then I'll sit down and say I told you.
"Nobody should doubt me, I'm telling everybody the game plan and mapping it out for them."
But the 23-year-old admits that he's not the finished product, and is keen to hone his craft as he goes.
He added: "I'm always looking to learn, gaining more knowledge in fighting is something that I pride myself on.
"A lot of people can be shown a technique and not use that technique, whereas once I learn something I like to implement it into my game plan.
"Always learning new things, always learning new submissions, new striking or combinations, I'm a big fan of.
"For me, learning is progressing and what I like to say to people is that the best just got better or perfect just got more perfect.
"It's about slowly progressing into the fighter I want to be, and making sure that every time I get in that cage that I am the best version of me that I could have possibly been."
If all goes to plan in the coming months, Garry would be crowned the Cage Warriors Welterweight champion and claims he'd be happy to sign on the dotted line with the UFC before his 24th birthday.
"I'd like to put up a post saying; "In the UFC at 23" - it doesn't sound bad at all," he joked.
Fighting abroad for the third time in just over six months, Garry admits that he'd love to headline a Cage Warriors show in Dublin when crowds return.
But if he's made the leap to the UFC when that time comes, he wants to be part of the promotion's potential return to the capital.
He continued: "I'd never say no to a nice Cage Warriors show in the 3 Arena and watching a gold belt get wrapped around my waist.
"We can dream, we can hope and we can cross our fingers that it happens.
"But look, eventually I will sign for the UFC and there will be a time that I bring the UFC back to Dublin.
"Don't worry about that, we'll get there."
But in the midst of an interview about fighting, training, Cage Warriors belts and UFC signings, there's one thing that Garry notes.
And as the tattoo on his chest claims, the future is inevitable and he's mapping it all out.
"The future will always be the future," Garry explained.
"I have a tattoo on my chest that says the future is inevitable - It's always going to be here and it's always going to happen.
"We don't know what's in the future, we always know what's been in the past.
"But I can tell you now that I'm mapping the future out for everybody and they better well listen to me - because it's going to happen."
