Ian Machado Garry has threatened to “smack Sean Strickland’s mouth” for calling his wife a “paedophile” among other insults.
Machado Garry returns to action this weekend against Geoff Neal at UFC 298 in his first appearance since enduring months of online taunts and abuse, much of which has been directed at his family.
The Irishman, 26, and his wife Layla, 40, found their relationship in the spotlight after it emerged she had written a short satirical book called “How to be a WAG” more than 10 years ago.
Layla laughed at the 11-page book and the TV presenter said: “That satirical book, if you listen to it, is really silly and anyone who takes it as fact will have been completely wrong.”
But that didn’t stop several trolls from insulting the couple, including some fellow MMA fighters.
Ian Machado Garry, pictured with his wife Layla and son, responded to his abusers
The Irishman remains undefeated and faces Geoff Neal at UFC 298 this Saturday
Layla’s satirical book resurfaced on social media last year, sparking a backlash online.
At UFC 298 media day, Machado Garry said, “Listen, we can shoot at each other all day, me and another guy, but here are the two things I’ll point out: Sean Strickland called my wife a pedophile.”
‘No woman deserves to be called that. My son, people who follow Sean Strickland, commented on a couple of my photos at the beginning of all this saying, “Is the kid even his?” I should never have to hear that. Those two things catch me emotionally.
‘I’ll get mine back. Someday I’m going to beat up Sean Strickland and there’s nothing I can do about it.
“I’ll talk to him, I’ll dance in his face, I’ll do whatever he wants, because the truth is that when one day we’re locked in that cage, he’ll never be able to deal with me.”
Machado Garry continued: ‘Look, Sean Strickland is not the damn voice we should be listening to. He is deeply, deeply indebted to trauma, and he should just keep quiet and try to deal with his own personal problems, and that’s where he mostly comes from.
“Of course, there isn’t a damn man on the planet who talks like that about my wife or my family and doesn’t understand it in the end. The truth is, he will never be relevant again. He has lost the belt. He has lost interest.
‘There’s a point where I get into a fight on short notice and I’ll dance around it. I’m too fast. I have too much talent and he just won’t be there.
Strickland previously said: ‘Guys, I never talk about anyone’s spouses, but this s**t ain’t right.’ It’s not fucking right. I have to talk about it.
UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland even went so far as to call Layla a ‘sexual predator’ in a troll Machado Garry says the American will be punished.
Machado Garry has passed all the tests so far and defeated Neil Magny in style.
‘Ian Garry, I remember when I met you, mate, it was in New York… I remember thinking, there’s nothing good about that girl.
‘Now I discover that you are 26 years old, she is 40. The ex-husband lives with you, you took the last name.
‘Mother******, she wrote a book on how to be a WAG, until now I didn’t know what a WAG was, mate. This bitch is not okay dude, she’s a succubus. You have to run away brother.’
Rumors were also circulating online suggesting that Richard Cullen, Layla’s first husband, who is understood to have been part of Garry’s team since 2021 as a nutritionist, was still living with the couple.
However, Layla also addressed the matter and quickly debunked it.
“Some nonsense people have been saying is that my ex-husband lives with us,” she said. ‘No he does not! And no, he never has. You’re just making it up.
Another fighter who mocked Machado Garry was Colby Covington, a fellow welterweight who the Irishman wants to fight next if he beats Neal.
He continued, “I want to beat Geoff Neal in spectacular fashion this weekend, then I’ll fight Colby Covington, retire him, and get the clown out of the UFC.”
“Then I’ll pick someone (ranked) three, two or one in the world, beat them and earn my title shot next year.”
Garry says he will fight Colby Covington and send him into retirement.
‘I think (Colby) has no choice. When I beat Geoff Neal on Saturday, there’s only one option, and that’s what I say.
Regarding verbal sparring before events, Machado Garry says it should only involve the fighters and never involve the family.
“There’s a line,” he explained. ‘There’s a line between what you say and what you do, and it’s not rubbish to call my wife a pedophile or say my child isn’t even mine. That’s not quackery. That’s abuse. That’s horrible and no person on the planet deserves that.
“I feel like we’ve seen it recently, and the two main culprits are fucking Colby and Sean Strickland. Colby mentions Leon’s dad (Edwards) and Sean is just negative about everyone possible. It shows a very dark time in MMA. “This is not what sport is about.”