Amid all the recent drama and backlash, Ian Garry has seemingly found an ally in welterweight standout Gilbert Burns.
Garry has been the subject of many headlines over the last few months, much of which surrounds the unconventional relationship with his wife, Layla Anna-Lee. After fans and fighters alike learned that Anna-Lee, who is 14 years older than Garry, wrote a book teaching older women how to date young athletes and celebrities, the couple found themselves defending their marriage against hateful comments from the MMA community, including reigning UFC middleweight champ Sean Strickland.
Speaking with MMA Junkie, Burns questioned why fans and media outlets have targeted Garry so extensively before essentially answering his own question.
“A lot of things happened over the past weekends,” Burns said. Like, we had Bellator champions, Patchy Mix and we had Jason Jackson. We got a lot of things with the PFL, Bellator, we had a lot of good [and] interesting things. But then you’ve got the drama with Ian, that was the number one thing everywhere, you know.
“Why are we going so much to the drama side, you know? Why are we not going to the good side? I guess the drama gives more views and things if people get more gossipy and they like it.”
Ian Garry sparring Gilbert Burns.
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— Parry Punch (@ParryPunchNews) February 16, 2022
Taking the high road, Burns opted to come to the defense of Garry and his wife, suggesting that the pair are seemingly happy together and in the end, that’s all that truly matters.
“They have a good relationship so far as I see,” Burns continued. “You know, they look good. Whatever they wanna say, she’s a little bit older, whatever. We have a lot of people that are like that. The way I see it, if he’s happy, if she’s happy, if it works for them, whatever, you know? Do whatever you want.”
On December 16, Ian Garry will return to the Octagon for his toughest test as he takes on No. 8 ranked welterweight contender Vicente Luque. Riding a 14-fight win streak, ‘The Future’ will look to continue his climb up the ladder en route to an eventual UFC title opportunity.
“It’s going to be a good fight, I think,” Burns said. “They both are strikers. For sure Ian is the younger guy, the faster guy… He comes quick, you know, he starts fast. He’s got good volume, good kicks, good hands. Vicente’s going to come with war, like, he’s battle-tested. He fought so many guys, got into a lot of wars. This is going to be a good one” (h/t MMA Weekly).