Ian Machado Garry is a storm wrapped in gold and green, a fighter who makes no apologies for the whirlwind he leaves behind. In his meteoric rise to the no. 7 spot in the division, the Irish welterweight has managed to do more than just win fights. He’s mastered the art of stirring the pot. His loud, brash persona echoes shades of another Irish star—Conor McGregor—and if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Garry wears it like armor.
At UFC on ESPN 66 in Kansas City, ‘The Future’ is set to take on the surging Carlos ‘The Nightmare’ Prates. But before fists fly and bodies hit the canvas, it’s worth taking a closer look at the controversies that have followed Garry in his rise to prominence in the UFC!
1. Trash Talk That Struck a Nerve
Trash talk is part of the game. But Ian Garry? He plays it like a symphony of chaos.
When Geoff Neal pulled out of their scheduled fight at UFC 292, Garry didn’t just pivot—he pounced. He printed Neal’s mugshot from a past arrest onto a T-shirt and sold it online, an act of psychological warfare that would make even ‘The Notorious’ blink.
But the real storm brewed with Neal’s replacement, Neil Magny. The welterweight veteran, trying to establish some bravado, claimed he would deliver Garry an “a— whooping” because he’d become “accustomed to that kind of whooping” since he was a father. Those words turned into gasoline. Ian Garry just lit the match.
At the press conference before their clash, Garry turned Magny’s quote against him, framing it as an admission of abuse. The fallout didn’t stay in the Octagon. Magny later revealed to Sportskeeda that Garry’s words seeped into his real life, affecting a custody battle during his divorce. “…. it was literally my children’s relationship that was at stake at that point. It wasn’t cool.”, Magny confessed.
June 29, 2022, LAS VEGAS, NV, LAS VEGAS, NV, United States: LAS VEGAS, NV – June 29: Ian Garry meets with the press for media day at UFC Apex for UFC 276 – Adesanya vs Connonier – Media Day on June 29, 2022 in LAS VEGAS, NV, United States. LAS VEGAS, NV United States – ZUMAp175 20220629_zsa_p175_044 Copyright: xLouisxGrassex
Did Garry feel remorse? Not even close. He doubled down. In an interview with MMA Fighting, he stated, “I think I exposed him for what he is. Neil said the words he said in that press conference. The words that I used as ammunition came out of his own mouth.”
He also defended his mugshot stunt, as he claimed everything said or done publicly is fair game. And while he admitted there are lines in trash talk, according to ‘The Future’, “I have not stepped over a single boundary yet.” The question is, if that’s staying under the line, what happens when Garry finally decides to step over it?
2. Departure from Team Renegade
If Ian Garry burns bridges, he doesn’t look back to watch them fall. The Irishman found himself exiled from Team Renegade in 2023, the elite Birmingham gym where UFC champion Leon Edwards sharpens his sword. Why? Depends on who you ask.
According to Garry, it was insecurity that got him booted. In an interview with The Independent, the UFC welterweight stated, “Leon and his head coach had an issue with me training on the mats and recently have asked me not to train there, because, ‘Leon doesn’t want any insecurities or doubts on his own mats, within the gym,’ which I don’t fully understand.”
From his perspective, a true warrior welcomes another lion into the den. Why not train with contenders? Why not sharpen iron with iron?
Team Renegade, however, painted a different picture. In their statement, they wrote, “Ian Garry’s more nomadic approach to preparation has given him great results, but it’s not in line with what we are creating at Team Renegade. This has nothing to do with one specific fighter or a specific coach.”
In other words, Garry’s wandering spirit didn’t fit into their vision of team culture. Garry has trained at Team KF Martial Arts from 2017 to 2021, Kill Cliff FC from 2021-2023, and after his split from Team Renegade, he headed to Chute Boxe Diego Lima, where he’s managed to find a home amidst the brutal grind.
Yet his abrupt departure from Team Renegade does beg the question: if even your own training partners prefer you at arm’s length, how long before you run out of mats to call home?
3. Public Curiosity Around His Marriage
As if fighting inside the cage wasn’t enough, Ian Garry has found himself battling rumors outside it. The spotlight on ‘The Future’s marriage to Layla Anna-Lee has turned into a sideshow of its own. The age gap between them—14 years—was enough to get tongues wagging. But the gossip mill didn’t stop there.
Fans unearthed Layla’s old satirical book How to Be a WAG and immediately cast her as a predator. Others spread a bizarre rumor that Garry took her ex-husband’s last name and that said ex was living under their roof as Garry’s nutritionist.
But his wife had had enough. In a viral Instagram video, she dismantled the rumors one by one. “Machado is my maiden name,” she clarified. “We added our names together when we got married. It’s not that big a deal.” On the accusation about her ex living with them, she said, “No, no, he does not. He never has done.”
And when it came to the ugliest accusation—that Garry was a “c–k,” a term Sean Strickland and Colby Covington threw around at every opportunity they could at the Irishman, Anna-Lee didn’t hold back. She fired off with, “Lie number three, Ian is a c—, step up Sean Strickland, a man who is unlikely to be au fait with the Shakespearean English he unwittingly used when calling Ian a c—.”
She then proceeded to educate the viewers on the origins of the term from Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’ and ended her statement with, “And notably, when the liars were exposed, Iago was taken away to be tortured and killed. Thank you, Shakespeare.” In conclusion, from psychological warfare and burned bridges to public rumors and family defense, Ian Machado Garry isn’t just fighting for rankings—he’s fighting on all fronts.
Each chapter in his rise reveals a man unwilling to bend, whether it’s in a press conference, a training room, or the court of public opinion. Love him or hate him, Garry is carving out a space in the UFC spotlight—and he’s doing it on his terms.
But as ‘The Future’ prepares to collide with Carlos Prates in Kansas City, one question looms larger than the rest: Can controversy continue to be his fuel, or will it one day become his undoing? Let us know in the comments below!
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