Irish prospect Ian Garry successfully grabbed the 11th win of his career after beating Song Kenan at the UFC 285 prelims in a fight that saw the 25-year-old face the first knockdown of his UFC career. Despite the early knockdown, the Irishman displayed his resilience as he went on to finish the fight during the third and final round after a flurry of strikes. Following the win, ‘The Future’ even performed the billy strut made famous by fellow Irishman Conor McGregor.

Despite earning high praise from fighters and ‘The Notorious’ himself, Garry was surprisingly subject to harsh criticism from fans after the fighter made a rather distasteful post on his official Instagram. The post in question here was a still of his opponent Kenan, who appeared busted up after the fight.

Accusing him of being proud and bashful, fans lashed out at the Irishman, to which he responded by making a statement under the post itself. Interestingly, Garry‘s wife too had shared the post earlier, before she deleted it after people called her out.

Ian Garry responds to criticism for the Instagram post after UFC 285 victory over Song Kenan

Fans expressed their disapproval of Garry‘s post by saying it was done in poor taste. A few even asked him to show some humbleness and display a bit of respect for his opponent. Despite such comments, the young prospect did not shy away from making his own statement on the post.

Expressing his love for the sport and denying that he meant any disrespect to Kenan, ‘The Future’ wrote, “A few ppl on here find me posting this disrespectful. This has nothing to do with respect. The respect was in the cage I spoke to Song before I spoke to Rogan. This image, the fight everything was all over TV and it’s all over socials.”

The 25-year-old’s confidence in his abilities was also quite apparent in his next sentence. Many would also find it strikingly similar to the mentality Conor McGregor used to display as a prospect himself. “This is my work. My attack and my defense. This is what I trained to do and what Song trained and tried to do to me. This is part of the game. So you wanna be a fighter? Be ready, this s**t is real.”

Garry also claimed his willingness to talk about his own drawbacks in the game. And he did eventually post a clip of him getting dropped in the first round of the fight.

Read More: Watch: Conor McGregor, With Partner Dee Devlin and Their Three Kids, Crosses Path With Irish Super Fan Ian Garry Backstage at UFC 285

 “I got dropped and I’ll post that too. I still laugh every time I watch it. I ain’t denying I have a sick and violent mind, to me this is art, he was my canvass – I LOVE THIS S**T” wrote the welterweight.

Fans bashed Garry after he posted Kenan’s busted face to make a point

Following the third-round win, Garry‘s show of confidence was on full display as he made a series of posts on Instagram, celebrating the victory. But it was the image of Kenan‘s busted face that seemed to disgruntle the fans. The caption too did not help his case, as the fighter wrote about how it was a bad decision for anyone to sign up for a fight against him.

Although his wife appears to have taken down the post on her profile, Garry certainly hasn’t been bogged down by the pressure.

A majority of the comments on the post claimed that he was being too bashful; some also warned him that he could end up losing the next fight.

Despite such criticism, it seems quite natural for an elite athlete to boast about their success.

But was the UFC star’s post done in poor taste toward Kenan? Let us know in the comment section below.

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