Ian Garry Separates Himself From Conor McGregor’s Approach as His Return at UFC 298 Awaits- “Family Time”

Ian Machado Garry was originally scheduled to face Vincente Luque at UFC 296 last month. However, the Irishman chose to pull out due to pneumonia, citing threats to him and his family’s safety in the States stemming from his feud with Sean Strickland.

Strickland had accused the Irishman’s wife of being a succubus and pedophile after rumors she wrote a book about dating younger athletes along with other strange rumors about their marriage started circulating online. ‘The Future’ was incensed at this and warned the then-middleweight champion that he would fight him. However, the issue seems to have subsided for now and the 26-year-old is gearing up to face Geoff Neal at UFC 298 next month and is already in camp to prepare for the fight.

Ian Machado Garry sets to face Geoff Neal at UFC 298

The former Cage Warriors champion has won all six of his fights in the UFC, four of them by knockout. The undefeated welterweight is one of the more promising 170-pound prospects and will most likely break into the top five of the division if he can defeat the #11-ranked Neal convincingly.

Neal, who has opened as a slight betting favorite, is expected to be a tough challenge for the Irishman. One of the more experienced veterans in the division, Neal, is coming off a loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov last August and a win against Garry will get him back in the title race.

Questions have been raised about how the recent controversy relating to his wife, Layla Anna Lee, has affected him. While it can only be answered when he gets in the octagon for his next fight, he is hard at work. The 26-year-old has already started his fight camp and revealed in a recent Instagram post that he had brought his family with him. He posted photos of him on the beach, spending time with his baby son. This is different from how most fighters, including Conor McGregor, approach their camps, choosing to leave their family behind.

“I’m so blessed I get to take my little boy everywhere with me. Fight camp is better with you little Leo!” he captioned the post. And as he gears up to face Neal, let us take a look at the controversy that has affected his mental health.

Sean Strickland accuses ‘The Future’s wife of being a succubus

Layla Anna Lee, fourteen years older than Garry, is a former broadcaster and journalist. She wrote a satirical book in 2012 titled ‘How to Be a WAG’. The term WAG refers to the wives and girlfriends of top athletes in the UK and the book takes a sardonic look at the grim and lonely realities behind the glitzy lifestyle. This prompted fans to accuse Anna Lee of manipulating Garry, using tactics from her book, into marrying her. Soon after, Sean Strickland took to Twitter and termed her a “sexual predator.”

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“Ian Garry’s wife is a SEXUAL PREDATOR… She sought out a young athlete to seduce because she’s getting old and still wanted to be famous… Nobody of fame wanted you so you preyed on a kid… You are and will forever be known as a succubus,” ‘Tarzan’ wrote. This prompted the Irishman to threaten to sue Strickland. ‘The Future’ has also spoken about the incident having affected him mentally.

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