Undefeated Irish prospect Ian Machado Garry took the UFC by storm, and as he broke into the ranks of welterweights, he made more and more noise. Both inside and outside of the Octagon, Garry seems to be involved in every headline in MMA.
Recently, Garry came under fire for the actions of his wife, Layla Machado Garry. Mrs. Machado is a former British television presenter who worked with Red Bull and the MLS, as well as the female presenter of the Olympics. She married Garry in 2022, with whom she has a child. However, this is not what she is facing criticism for.
Before Garry and Machado met, she was married to Richard Cullen, with whom she has a son. Machado brought in Cullen as Garry’s nutritionist, and Cullen now lives with the Garry family. Many in the MMA community feel that Machado hired Cullen because of their former connection.
Additionally, MMA social media uncovered something unsavory in the weeks leading up to Garry’s fight against Vicente Luque on Friday. They found that Machado wrote a book called How to Become a WAG, which means “Wife and Girlfriend”, usually of athletes. It instructed women how to land relationships with star athletes, but is thought by some to be tongue-in-cheek. Many have claimed that Garry was manipulated in the relationship, as did middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
Strickland referred to Machado as a “succubus”, a term for a female demon who seduces men with sexual activity. As a result, Garry threatened to sue Strickland, one of the more outspoken fighters in the UFC. Strickland responded in typical fashion via Twitter: “You put a man's mug shot on a shirt to shame him, and then you say you're going to sue me?!?! Learn how to be a f**king man. Were you born without a b*ll sack, or did your wife remove them? Coward. Utter f**king coward."
Garry has a history of taking personal shots at his opponents, as he once showed up to a press conference with a shirt. This was no ordinary shirt, as it depicted the mug shot of his opponent Geoff Neal, perennial welterweight contender. Neal has long been a company darling to the UFC, taking fight after fight. However, Neal’s arrest lost him a lot of favor in the company. He was stopped and charged with DWI and carrying an unlicensed weapon, both misdemeanors.
Even so, it remained a touchy subject for Neal, obviously, who referred to Garry as “straight trash”. In response to Garry, Neal also said that he would “spank” Garry like one of his children. Neal also said that the trash-talking from Garry meant that he lost the chance to have custody of his children, as Garry played up the statements, referring to Neal as a “child abuser”.
Neal said that Garry’s comments had far-reaching implications, even in the court system. He said that they would be admissible in court, in a battle where he is “literally fighting for custody” of my children.
Even though Neal pulled out of the fight, Garry soundly defeated his new opponent, welterweight stalwart Neil Magny. On the scorecards, he won 30-24, 30-24, and 30-26, with two of those rounds on two judges’ cards being so dominant that he had two 10-8 rounds.
Garry has a penchant for making headlines in and out, but one thing is for sure. He is a fantastic fighter, and his next fight against Vicente Luque is sure to be a fantastic one. In the last pay-per-view of the year, the UFC plans to put on a fantastic card, and Garry bolsters it like none other.
Win or lose, he will provide the sport with plenty to talk about.