Dan Hardy feels sorry for Ian Garry.
The fast-rising Irish contender returns to the Octagon this Saturday night (December 16) for the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career thus far. However, much of the noise surrounding Garry has had little to do with his high-stakes welterweight clash at UFC 296.
Instead, fighters and fans alike have chosen to focus on his personal life. Specifically, his marriage to 40-year-old television presenter Layla Anna-Lee.
Last month reigning UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland posted a video labeling Anna-Lee as a “succubus” after learning that she had written a guidebook for older women looking to date young athletes and celebrities entitled How to Be a WAG. Anna-Lee claims that the 11-page e-book was meant to be satirical, but considering that she is 14 years older than Garry, not everyone was buying that excuse, Strickland included.
Strickland’s attack on the couple’s unconventional relationship opened the floodgates, forcing Garry to privatize his social media channels amid the backlash.
Speaking about the situation during an appearance on Submission Radio, former UFC title contender Dan Hardy suggested that Ian Garry has all the potential in the world, but at some point, he let the wrong people take the wheel and steer his career down the path of unnecessary drama.
“Honestly, I feel bad for the kid. He’s a good fighter and that’s been overshadowed by all of the drama in his personal life,” Hardy said. “Any interaction I’ve had with him was always good. I saw him several times at Cage Warriors. I called a couple of his fights. He’s a very skilled and talented fighter. He had great coaches back in the day who really instilled a good skill set into him.
“But there was a point in his career where things started to go south and they went south very quickly from what I can tell from people around him that I’ve spoken to. It just seems like his life was being guided by other people, which is a real shame because, for a young man with so much potential, I feel like his potential is being undermined by the drama that’s being created around him.”
Dan Hardy feels bad Ian Garry’s skills are being overshadowed by all of the drama around him going into #UFC296!
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— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) December 11, 2023
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Is Ian Garry being controlled by people who are trying to steal his limelight?
Hardy doubled down on his accusations, claiming that those around Garry are seemingly more interested in stealing the limelight for themselves than helping ‘The Future’ navigate his combat sports career.
“I don’t think he’s a mean person, necessarily,” Hardy continued. “I don’t think he’s vindictive in any way. I think some of the things he says are not very well thought out. Some of the things he does are potentially put in his mind or on his shirt by other people, you could say.
“I feel sorry for him and I feel like his potential is being stifled because of this unnecessary drama around and other people trying to steal the limelight, or create a limelight for themselves. I feel like it’s a lot of weight going into this weekend’s fight against Vicente Luque.”
It remains to be seen how the drama will impact Garry inside the Octagon, if at all, but we won’t have to wait much longer to find out.