Has 5-6 Fight Plan To Become Champ

Ian Garry, soon to be the #15 ranked welterweight, isnt rushing his way to the top ... "The Future" tells us he has a plan laid out, and it starts with fighting a guy he believes is the gatekeeper to the top 10!

25-year-old Garry defeated Daniel Rodriguez inside 3 minutes (its the first time D-Rods been finished with strikes) on UFC on ABC 4 ... and joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) where he talked about his next moves.

"Yeah, [Neil Magny is] still the guy I want for so many reasons," Garry said. "I believe that everybody knows who Magny is. Everybody knows how game a fighter Magny is."

Garry admits Magny (27-10) may not have the best record ... but hes a guy who can expose you if you arent prepared.

"If theres a guy in the division before you enter that top 10 that you wanna test yourself against and see if youre legit, its Neil Magny."

As it stands, "The Future" is a perfect 12-0 ... in a sport where unbeaten records are a rarity. And, the zero is something that Ian says means a lot to him.

"To be able to sit there and say no one ever cracked the code, to be able to sit there and say no one was able to decipher the game that I bring to the table, absolutely. 100%," he said.

Despite the immense success so early in his career, Garry isnt resting on his laurels. In fact, he says hes planned a trip to Brazil where hell work on jiujitsu ... as well as a voyage all the way to New Zealand, where hes going to train with middleweight champ Israel Adesanya.

"Dont tell me that if Im training with Adesanya, that I cant pick up one or two little details that are gonna help elevate my game," Garry said.

"Traveling and learning and growing and becoming better is inevitably more important to me right now than hunting for the title right now, because when I decide to make that title run, Im gonna succeed and nobodys gonna be able to take me off that."

Perhaps the coolest part of the win for Ian was his idol Conor McGregors reaction to the one-sided victory ... when Notorious tweeted, "When you call your shot and hit it, that’s special. The Shot Caller Club has a new entry, Ireland’s Ian The Future Garry! #NotAScratch."

Garry was loving it ... saying, "Im like a f***ing kid in a candy store when I see that guy post stuff on Twitter," Garry said. "Hes also f***ing hilarious."

"Look, hes a superstar, and if I could have any amount of success that he had, I would be proud."