Welterweight contender, Ian Garry has endured his own hell week last week, however, not in classic David Goggins and Tony Ferguson style. Garry has been getting into it with middleweight champion, Sean Strickland on social media, as well as ‘leaks’ about his wife’s past business ventures coming to light and on top of that, he’s getting a lot of hate from former teammates. This all comes off the back of him being kicked out of Leon Edwards’ gym ahead of UFC 296. This is far from ideal prep for the upcoming Irish prospect ahead of the biggest fight of his career against Vicente Luque in Vegas at UFC 296.
Sean Strickland Beef and ‘How to be a WAG’
It was released this week that Garry’s wife, Layla Machado Garry, better known as Layla Anna-Lee released a book titled ‘How To Be A WAG’. WAG refers to ‘Wife and Girlfriend’ with an athlete of status. Naturally, this led to some speculation that Lee is only with Garry for his notoriety and money. Of course, Garry’s wife has denied this claim.
Middleweight champion, Sean Strickland piped up on Twitter, commenting on the matter:
You know I never talk about a fighters girls but fuck……. I almost feel bad for Ian Garry at this point….. bro your girl is a succubus…. :/ sorry bro it happens to us all once..
You got played…… #wag hope you have a good prenup….
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) November 24, 2023
Garry, it was rumoured and subsequently proven, threatened to sue Strickland over his comments on his wife. Stickland released an exchange between the two men, where Garry suggested Strickland was ‘partaking in harassment and defamation of character’. The messages can be seen below:
As a reaction to the threats to sue, Strickland consequently released a video, blasting Garry and his wife:
Sean Strickland reacts to controversial rumours about Ian Garry & his wife pic.twitter.com/a8AxBeTbmq
— Best MMA Moments (@XcellentMMA) November 25, 2023
On top of all of this, none other than everyone’s favourite Twitter troll, Dillon Danis popped up on Twitter to share a message exchange between him and Anna-Lee from 2018.
Morning ❤️ pic.twitter.com/8hqnBKY3fR
— Dillon Danis (@dillondanis) November 28, 2023
Garry’s wife, Anna-Lee has chimed in on the situation, giving some context to the book, denying the argument that her ex-husband lives with the pair, however, doesn’t comment on the fact that she and Garry still use the surname of her ex-husband.
Former Teammate’s Shoot on Garry
It’s not a hidden secret that Garry regularly trains at different gyms throughout the globe. Notably in this camp, he’s had to leave his former gym, Kill Cliff MMA, due to his upcoming fight with teammate, Vicente Luque. Luque is a stalwart of Kill Cliff MMA, having trained there for many years.
There are two unwritten ‘gym rules’ in MMA. You don’t call out teammates and you don’t release sparring footage. Unfortunately, Garry did the former, calling out Luque and has had his wish granted with a fight at UFC 296. It makes sense for Garry to call out someone in the rankings above him, someone who will elevate his spot in the ranking, however, there are other people to call out that you don’t train with.
It was also leaked this week from former teammate, Brendan Allen that Ian Garry was ‘slept’ in training. What’s more, there’s supposedly footage of this.
“Just know there’s video – and he knows what name not to say to let it come out – of what happened to him,” Allen said. “I’m not gonna release it, but just know there is someone in that gym that has slept him. Out.”
This is the second rumour that Garry has been knocked out in sparring in recent times, with Paddy Pimblett commenting on Garry’s split from Team Renegade surrounded a KO in sparring.
Discussing the matter, Allen claimed that Garry’s situation is like “selling your soul to the devil for money. That’s what he’s doing.”
Call Outs
Garry isn’t short of potential fights after the Luque fight. Win and he has a line to call out the champion, Leon Edwards. There’s certainly an angle to sell there after they trained together previously.
Likewise, Sean Brady, a man who picked up big win on this weekend’s card, called out Garry. Ahead of last weekend’s fight with Kelvin Gastelum, Brady said:
“He’s very talented, but for me, I’ve been with the same group of guys since I started fighting, so it rubbed me the wrong way when he did that whole thing with Luque. Recording the phone [conversation], the way he just did that. He called him [Luque], he had cameras on him recording him and Luque having a conversation. That s**t was wack to me.”
He doubled down on the call-out following his dominant victory, clearly stating that he wanted to be the next man to face Garry after UFC 296. That fight certainly makes sense considering both men’s places in the rankings.
Likewise, whilst speaking to MMA Junkie, Michael Morales, the undefeated Ecuadorian prospect, who picked up a win recently had this to say on who he wanted to face next:
“If I get the opportunity to fight him, I’ll welcome that. He’s someone I want to fight. If I get the opportunity to fight him, that would be great. I really dislike that guy. There’s nothing I like about him”.
Rest assured, win or lose at UFC 296, there will be no shortage of people wanting a piece of The Future.
