Ian Machado Garry has hit back in a feud with UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland which has dominated the MMA narrative for the past several days.
The details of the Irishman’s issues with Strickland have been regurgitated en masse this week — and there is no need to re-hash them here — but addressing the issue in a video on social media, Garry has said that he may put aside his welterweight ambitions to pursue a fight with Strickland up at 185-pounds.
Garry, who takes on Vicente Luque in what is the most high profile bout of his career to date on the main card of UFC 296 in a couple of weeks’ time, had not yet directly addressed the drama but had made his X (formerly Twitter) account private. But speaking on the maatter, the Dubliner said in a video republished by third parties that the media frenzy currently surrounding him has only served to give him added motivation.
Ian Garry says he might have to win a Middleweight World title before a welterweight one 👀
You guys think this is affecting his camp just a bit. Dudes in his own head 😬 pic.twitter.com/LXdCASYJ0C
— Jordain 🏴 (@McDainMMA) November 30, 2023
“The more people talk, the harder I work,” Garry says in the brief clip. “I’ve got more people to prove wrong. It’s not fueling me, it’s p*ssing me off. I might have to win a middleweight world title before I win the welterweight.”
Garry will seek to move to 14-0 (7-0 UFC) if he is successful in his three-round bout with former Kill Cliff FC training partner Luque on December 16. The Brazilian is 11-3 in his last 14 UFC bouts, and was most recently seen in the cage in August where he scored a decision win against former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos.
