In a new statement, Garry apologized to his supporters for missing UFC 296 while also making an interesting observation about online haters.
Ian Garry has released another statement regarding his withdrawal from UFC 296 due to a bad case of pneumonia.
Garry was set to fight teammate Vicente Luque on the Las Vegas card, but UFC doctors pulled him off the card halfway through the week. Following the event, UFC CEO Dana White announced that Garry would be re-scheduled against Geoff Neal for UFC 298 on February 17th.
There’ll be time for Garry to get excited about that fight later. For now he still seems to be recovering from his illness. In a recent Instagram post he shared several images where he was curled up in a miserable ball (with adorable heart socks, though).
“Fight week didn’t go as planned,” he wrote in the caption. “Influenza developed into pneumonia as I dropped weight and for the first time in my career I was pulled by the UFC Doctor.”
“Flying home I met so many fans who flew out specifically to see me,” Garry continued. “F—. This is not how I wanted to meet you. I wanted to put on a show more than anything. Thank you for all your kind words, wonderful messages and to everyone who was there for me.”
“You might read hateful comments online but I’ve discovered they aren’t real. In real life you book flights, hotels, you drive miles, and you show up, in Vegas. I appreciate the hell out everyone and I promise I’ll make it up to you all in February.”
It had been a rollercoaster of a time for Garry, who came into Las Vegas with a lot of controversy surrounding his name. There were several tales about him getting beaten up by former teammates and kicked out of gyms. Everyone at his current gym Kill Cliff FC was siding with Vicente Luque. “The Future” was labeled a ‘me’ fighter, not a ‘we’ fighter. And then there was all that stuff about his wife.
We’ll see whether things settle down by February when he returns against Neal. If not, he’ll discover that sometimes those online haters can manifest in real life as well.