“Show them what greatness looks like this close in the flesh and then watch me go in there and whoop ass in the Octagon.” —Ian Garry
Move over Conor McGregor, there’s a new self-absorbed Irishman in town.
Much like “Notorious” did ahead of his Dennis Siver bout at UFC Fight Night 59 (the vaunted “Conor McGregor Effect”), undefeated welterweight sensation Ian Garry electrified Boston MMA fans before, during, and after his UFC 292 victory over Neil Magny at TD Garden.
That said, “The Future” nearly found himself behind bars, thanks to a social media stunt staged the night before his big fight. Garry and his team held an impromptu open workout inside a local watering hole, which did not sit well with “Beantown” law enforcement.
“Every fight now I’m gonna do something like that. I’m gonna make it f*cking bigger and more chaotic, and I wanna cause trouble,” Garry told Full Send MMA. “The policeman on shift came up to us beforehand. He said to my team when they were checking the barrow. He said, ‘If he steps foot outside on the streets and hits pads, I’m gonna arrest him and put him in jail overnight because of a riot law.’”
Riot laws almost sent celebrity goofball Jake Paul to jail in summer 2021.
“I was like … sat there going, ‘F*** me, that’d be good media.’ That’d be gold media. ‘We need him out! He’s fighting tomorrow night!’ I thought that’d be genius … but I need to keep my visa. I can’t be doing stupid sh*t. I promise you, I will push the boundaries. Look at the energy. That’s sh*t people are gonna remember when I’m world champion, ‘I remember that night in Boston when that kid held an open workout and it was f*cking nuts.’ I can go on all night about it. It was so f*cking cool.”
Being arrested the night before a big fight is not all it’s cracked up to be.
Just ask UFC President Dana White, who was running around like a chicken with its head cut off when Johnny Law pinched Jeremy Stephens ahead of UFC on FX 5 back in late 2012. As many people will attest (present company excluded), getting into jail is pretty easy.
Getting out … not so much.
Garry improved to 13-0 with his victory over Magny and is now ranked No. 11 at 170 pounds. It’s not unreasonable to think “The Future” could position himself for a welterweight title shot with another big win over a Top 10 contender at some point in late 2023 or early 2024.
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