The combat sports world is a tiny circle; therefore, athletes’ personal and professional lives are intertwined. This has created a situation where fighters use each other’s personal affairs in trash talks which in turn results in their rivalry taking a personal turn rather than a professional one. So, has been the case between Ian Garry and Sean Strickland.
Strickland recently dragged Garry’s personal affairs to dis on the fighter in public. This has raged the welterweight contender, and he has strictly warned Strickland against it.
Ian Garry goes off on Sean Strickland
Ian Garry expressed his anger towards Sean Strickland at the UFC 298 pre-fight press conference, revealing that Strickland had made derogatory remarks about Garry’s wife, calling her a pedophile. “My wife was called a pedophile by Sean Strickland. No woman ever deserves to be called that, right? That’s the truth. My son, the people that follow Sean Strickland, commented on a couple of my photos at the very start of all this hate, saying, ‘Is the kid even his?'”, said Garry at the press conference.
“I should never have to hear that. Now, those two things emotionally get me, and I’ll get mine back. I’ll tump the fucking mouth off Sean Strickland one day, and there’ll be nothing he can do about it”, said Garry of what he will do to Sean Strickland when they eventually fight. “I’ll talk to him, I’ll dance in his face, I’ll do whatever I want because the truth is, when we get locked into that cage one day, he’s never going to be able to deal with me,” Garry further added.
"My wife was called a pedophile by Sean Strickland. … I'll pump the f*cking mouth off Sean Strickland."
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 14, 2024
Ian Machado Garry has a score to settle with the former champ after #UFC298 😳 pic.twitter.com/y8lVgXNhz8
“Sean Strickland is not the fucking voice we should all be listening to. Do you know what I mean? He’s deeply, deeply indebted with trauma,” Garry bashed the Sean Strickland fans. “He should just be silent and try to deal with his own personal issues himself. And that’s mainly where it all came from,” Garry put forth what Strickland must do to deal with his childhood trauma.
Ian Garry will be looking to keep his undefeated record intact at UFC 298 against veteran welterweight, Geoff Neal. The two were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 292 only for Neal to pull out and get replaced by Neil Magny on short notice. Garry went on to demolish Magny and was scheduled to fight Vicente Luque at UFC 296, but Garry withdrew due to Pneumonia.
Ian Garry and Sean Strickland feud explained
Ian Garry and Sean Strickland found themselves in a social media dispute after Strickland discovered that Garry’s wife, Layla Anna-Lee, was 14 years older than Garry. Strickland, who was the reigning UFC middleweight champion at the time, made disparaging remarks about Anna-Lee, which incited Garry’s anger.
Garry retaliated by threatening legal action against Strickland, but this only escalated the conflict, with Strickland continuing to criticize Garry and his wife on social media. The situation became more complicated for Garry as it emerged that his wife’s ex-husband had previously served as his head nutritionist.
To make matters worse, Garry also got social media criticism from Rampage Jackson and other UFC fighters like Colby Covington, Kevin Holland, and Terrance McKinney to name a few. Recently, Renato Moicano also subtly trolled Ian Garry with a social media post after his win over Drew Dober at UFC Vegas 85.
What do you think of Ian Garry’s situation after brutal online harassment? Leave your thoughts below!