A welterweight renegade was kicked out of Team Renegade because the gym doesn’t like renegades.
Ian Garry is no longer welcome at Team Renegade.
The 25 year-old Irishman was bounced from the Birmingham gym earlier this month after coaches decided it was best to create distance between “The Future” and reigning UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. “Rocky” is currently training to defend his 170-pound title against Colby Covington atop the UFC 296 pay-per-view (PPV) card in Las Vegas.
That’s the same event where Garry battles welterweight veteran Vicente Luque.
“Sometimes the coaches allow fighters to come in from the outside, but this is very much a privilege and not the norm,” Team Renegade wrote in a statement to The Independent. “If the coaches feel it’s not adding to the team’s culture, a fighter is refused entrance. Ian Garry’s more nomadic approach to preparation has given him great results, but it’s not in line with what we are creating at Team Renegade. This has nothing to do with one specific fighter or a specific coach.”
Garry claims “doubts and insecurities” led to his departure.
Garry, undefeated at 13-0, could find himself fighting Edwards (21-3, 1 NC) at some point in the very near future, assuming he can get past Luque and continue his upward trajectory. This certainly isn’t the first time a champion and top contender have been forced to find separate gyms, and is unlikely to be the last.