Ian Garry is quickly becoming one of the more controversial fighters in all of MMA and according to one UFC star, it may be because Garry is trying to emulate another Irish fighter.
Brendan Allen, a top ranked middleweight and former training partner of Garry’s, says that the fighter is trying to be like former two division UFC champion Conor McGregor, but Allen says there is only one McGregor.
“That’s just my personal feelings,” Allen said to ESPN (transcript via Alexander K. Lee of MMA Fighting). “I’m not going to speak for anyone else in the gym. I think he’s whack. I think he’s young. I think he’s misled. I think he talks way too much, but I understand he’s trying to be like Conor [McGregor], but there’s only one Conor, sorry. There’s one Conor. He or no one right now in the realm is going to top Conor, so I don’t know, I guess I just come from a different way of life. It’s kind of against my morals, I guess you could say, or what I feel is right and wrong, he just talks too much.
“Every man’s got to find their own path, and I guess he’ll find his one way or another, whether it’s good or bad. I feel like he was at a turning point where he could go down one road and still be a good person and not let things transfer over. But now I think he’s going down the other way where he’s like a Colby Covington-type of thing. It kind of sucks, because he was a nice guy.
“But I feel like it’s one thing to play a persona like Colby does – behind closed doors they say he’s a really nice guy, really quiet. I don’t know, I’ve never met him – but I’ve met Ian. I know Ian. And I feel like you can put this persona on, but actions speak louder than words, and this is also one of those actions to where it speaks louder than words.”
Garry has also found himself at odds with some former gyms as well, as the fighter has left or been booted from both Kill Cliff FC and Team Renegade.
Allen also believes that Allen has sold his soul to the devil in an attempt to make as much money as possible.
“I’m that kind of guy, if you start talking too much, then we can just fight,” Allen said. “We can really fight. We can take the gloves, we can put the gloves [away], I don’t care, we can do that. I don’t know, it’s hard for me to even put in words how stupid I think he is for doing those things, but again, it’s exactly the same scenario selling your soul to the devil for money. That’s what he’s doing.”