Issue 200
December 2023
Talented, confident, and determined to reach legendary status as a fighter, Ian Machado Garry is unapologetically following his own path to the top, powered by a Thanos-esque helping of self-belief. E. Spencer Kyte caught up with the Irishman to get the inside track on "The Future."
You don’t have to understand the way Ian Machado Garry has chosen to approach his career or the decisions he’s made in his professional life: it is his career and they are therefore his decisions to make, and he’s understandably quite pleased with how things have panned out thus far.
“I’m exactly where I need to be and should be right now,” the undefeated 26-year-old says with a wry smile, happy to dive into one of the most popular topics in the MMA space these days — Ian Machado Garry. “I’m a prospect turned contender. I’m a young man who people have so much hype about, and people are either on the bandwagon or they are not; they wanna see me fall off it or they wanna see me go on to be a world champion.
“All of this hearsay means nothing to me,” he adds, shaking his head. “Truth is, I go in there and I do my job, and every time I’ve showed up to do my job, I’ve proven that I’m absolutely unbelievable at it.”
The “hearsay” he’s referring to is the non-stop barrage of online chatter that has followed him in the build to his fight with Vicente Luque at UFC 296 on December 16 in Las Vegas.
It began with questions about the fight itself, as the Top 10 welterweights are friends and previous training partners. It was amplified when stories emerged about Garry being “kicked out” of the gym that houses Team Renegade, the Birmingham outfit home to current UFC titleholder Leon Edwards.
And it reached a crescendo when attention shifted to his wife, Layla Anna-Lee, the nature of their relationship, an old audiobook she recorded long before the two were an item, and the alleged presence of her ex-husband as an in-house part of his camp in the run-up to his critical clash with Luque at T-Mobile Arena.
The elements converged into the juicy center of a Venn diagram combining a polarizing rising star, social media gossip, and fight camp drama, and the online MMA community has continued to feast on it like the $20 endless shrimp deal at Red Lobster.
Teammates agreeing to fight one another will always raise an eyebrow in this sport because it very seldom happens, with most either saying they will never do it or that they’re only willing to consider the possibility if UFC gold is on the line.
The gym story sparked interest because the young Irish standout had an acrimonious parting of ways with his former camp, Team KF, prior to his bout with Jack Grant for the Cage Warriors title in the summer of 2021, and his itinerant approach doesn’t align with the “stick with one crew” approach the majority of athletes follow.
And the personal life push is just classic internet behavior — combing the depths for the bits and pieces that could cause the most disruption and generate the most social media impressions; chum for the aggregator-infested waters where fact-checking, full context, and whether a “news item” is even newsworthy are seldom considerations.
In addressing the storm of attention, Machado Garry pointed to something a close friend in Sao Paulo offered as the heavy winds started to shift into a funnel cloud.
“My friend said, ’Everybody has an arrow and everybody will take a shot. Whether it’s good or bad — some people feel like they have to shoot theirs and it’s ‘this guy is a dickhead’ or ‘f**k this kid’ or ‘I wanna see him get humbled’” — and all of this means absolutely nothing to me.
“You’ve seen the video of me speaking to my wife,” he continues, referencing a clip posted to his social media accounts where Anna-Lee wants to address the gathering storm and he is annoyed by that impulse, questioning why his wife or anyone else is giving time to the online chatter. “I literally don’t have time for it. It doesn’t register in my mind, especially when I know what’s true and what’s not.
“Like I said in that clip: if anyone said anything about her or me or my family that was true, then we have a point where we need to sit down and have a chat about it, and you can be upset, and we can have these conversations. But when someone is saying straight-up bulls**t that isn’t true, why are you paying attention to it? Why are you getting upset about it? Why are we having this conversation at all?
“I get it might hurt you because you’ve seen something that’s not true, but it’s not true.”
Doing it his way
In all instances, Machado Garry is unapologetically himself, and his approach, ambition, and the results he’s achieved thus far combine to make him someone that many root for, but an even greater number are seemingly rooting against.
He’s a combination of things many would like to be — a successful professional athlete, famous, and free to decide how he wants to live his life — but are not, and exhibits characteristics and personality traits that many are told should be avoided, tamped down, or tucked away.
For vast segments of the population, anything that is antithetical to the way they would do things is unacceptable; non-conformity is not an option, unless, of course, they’re the ones that do not wish to do what is widely expected or considered the norm. And when it comes to how he should carry himself, the opinions underscore how inconsistent fans, media, and the general public can be when it comes to subjects like confidence, swagger, and voicing what you believe to be true.
Some athletes are celebrated for singing their own praises and carrying themselves like conquering heroes, while others are told to scale it back and show more humility; slagged for being too brash, too bold, and too convinced of their own greatness, even if societal expectations and the beliefs of others are the only reasons to even consider doing so.
And as of this moment, why shouldn’t Machado Garry hold his head aloft and move with a tremendous amount of self-assuredness?
Through 13 professional bouts, the Irish welterweight is 13-0, having won a Cage Warriors title in his seventh appearance before rattling off six straight victories to begin his UFC tenure.
His performances carried him into the Top 10 in the UFC welterweight division in less than two years on the roster, and having just turned 26 last month, he’s technically not yet reached his athletic prime.
Despite those uncommon accomplishments, the consensus opinion seems to be that Machado Garry should show far more humility and tone down how confidently he speaks about himself, while picking a team and staying there exclusively, eschewing any opportunities to gain knowledge and insights elsewhere.
The idea of doing any of those things just doesn’t make sense to the burgeoning superstar.
“I don’t plan on having any one gym or being in any one place,” he says as we discuss his globe-trotting approach, which has taken him to England, Iceland, and Brazil in recent weeks. “I want to travel the world and learn from the best. I don’t ever want to stop that.
“For me to continue to be the best and grow the most as a fighter, I have to travel the world and I have to learn from people. If I want to go learn some kickboxing, maybe I’ll go to New Zealand and train with (Israel) Adesanya; maybe I’ll go find where Alex Pereira is and I’ll mix it up with him.
“To be able to learn jiu-jitsu and pick the brain of — just in the last couple of months — Gilbert Burns, Felipe Pena, Gunnar Nelson, and Demian Maia is f*****g nuts,” continues Machado Garry, his eyes getting wide, the tempo of his speech quickening; the excitement of discussing training with these individuals, growing as a fighter resonating in his voice. “It’s insane. It’s so cool. As a kid who grew up a fight fan, to be on the mats learning from Gilbert Burns? Demian Maia, the greatest grappler, arguably, ever in MMA? It’s incredible.
“To learn from these people, you can soak in so much knowledge, adapt it to your own game, mold it, shape it your way, and then put it into the Octagon, right?
“I don’t plan on settling at any camp,” he says again, reiterating his plans. “For me, I look at it as where is the best place for me to grow? Where is the best place for me to train and be the best version of me this fight? Not the last fight or the fight before, not the next one — this one, because we only have now.
“And I respect that people don’t understand that and don’t connect with that,” he adds, offering others the freedom to feel how they want, approach things as they please many refuse to allow him. “I understand that people don’t get the nomadic lifestyle, the traveling, the freedom that I have; I get that. People like schedule. People like habits. People are naturally habitual: they like to go to the same place, drive the same routes, go at the same time, the same people, feel comfortable.
“Fine — you do that; I have no problem with you doing that and I respect that. I like to travel the world and train. I like to train with different people, different styles, different cultures; see different people, different understandings of the world, eat different food, hear different languages. I like that. I like learning and growing and going ‘I didn’t like this place, but I loved that place. This place wasn’t good at that, but it was awesome at X. This place has amazing jiu-jitsu, but it doesn’t have amazing striking. This place has amazing striking, but no jiu jitsu.’
“I get to figure this all out in my head and plan it out, and that’s part of the journey, part of the process.
“People want to hate because of the success? That’s fine because the more success I have, the more people are gonna hate, and I’m so ready for it, but here’s the thing: show me one part of my life that isn’t ridiculously successful right now, that isn’t having an insane amount of traction, and then we can talk about ‘f**k that kid.’”
Right now, the truth is that no one can, because hate it or love it, everything Machado Garry has said he would do, he’s done, and in a sport and world where attention is at least as valuable as victories, the Irishman is building significant stacks of both.
Meteoric rise
Arriving in the UFC with a ton of hype and forecasted for greatness, “The Future” has thus far justified his advanced billing and made good on every promise he’s made when it comes to his career inside the Octagon.
He said he would make an instant impression in his debut at Madison Square Garden and followed through, stopping Jordan Williams at the close of the opening round. He said he would patiently work his way forward in the division, accumulating experience and wisdom as he climbed the ranks, and then earned twin decision wins over Darian Weeks and Gabe Green in his next two outings.
And so far this year, he’s continued his unimpeded ascent towards the top of the welterweight division.
In March, he navigated an early knockdown by Song Kenan before rallying to finish the Chinese veteran in the third round. Two months later, he dispatched Daniel Rodriguez in under three minutes, catching him with a clean, swift head kick and sealing the finish with precision follow-up strikes.
Last time out in August, he thoroughly out-worked Neil Magny, forever the litmus test for fighters eager to break into the Top 10, maintaining his unblemished record and making it crystal clear that he was ready for a significant step up in competition.
“I think people slow down out of fear,” he says, addressing the persistent question of whether he’s moving too quickly in a field where the majority of champions are in their 30s and experience often dictates whether you sink or swim in the deep championship waters. “People slow down because ‘I’m No. 10 in the world’ and you lose your next fight and then you’re not, and you lose that ego inside of you. I’m not satisfied, so I’m not gonna slow down because I’m not where I know I want to be or where I will be, so I don’t see any need to pump any brakes.
“I love constant competition. I love consistency. When I’m training, I’m getting ready for a fight, the energy is different, the way my brain operates changes, so for me to compete on a regular basis means that I learn more — I grow as a human, I evolve, I learn so much more rapidly than if I was out of camp or not training for a fight.
“This will be my fourth fight in eight months, and I have no plans on slowing down, because I don’t see the need to slow down,” continues the Dubliner, laying out how he sees the remainder of his career unfolding. “I want to finish fighting by the time I’m 30. I just turned 26 — that’s four years, and if I fight three times a year, that’s 12 more fights.
“It ain’t gonna take me 12 fights to win a world title. It ain’t gonna take me 12 fights to win two, so everything I wanna do will be done in those 12 fights, and more. So I don’t see any need to pump the brakes or slow it down.”
Relentless pursuit
While he does feel like a welterweight title is inevitable, and chasing a second up a division is very much part of the plan, one of the things that has constantly set Machado Garry apart from many of his contemporaries — and especially those just touching down on UFC soil — is that he’s always been willing to work his way forward inside the Octagon, earning opportunities and rankings through his efforts and results.
So despite the boastful nom de pugilism and Thanos-like belief that he is inevitable, the undefeated standout is ever willing to face the next challenge and back up his proclamations inside the UFC’s eight-sided proving ground.
“Where I am right now is exactly where I should be and exactly where I’ve earned to be,” he says. “You don’t deserve anything — you earn it, and I’m where I’ve earned to be. I have to earn the next step. I have earn No. 8 in the world, and No. 7, six, five, four, three, champion, the greatest of all time, and that comes from hard work, dedication, and relentless energy towards this goal and this vision.
“I know I’m gonna get there,” he says, smiling a knowing smile. “I know the potential I have, I know how good I am, and I know my brain, with my work ethic. I know I’m going to get there — it is only a matter of time; it is literally inevitable.
“This is why I love doubters,” he adds. “They doubt, they doubt, they doubt, and they naysay, it’s my job to prove them wrong, and prove I was right, and what I look forward to is just proving to all these people that chat a mad amount of s**t that I am always right."
So far, that has been the case: he’s undefeated and forging a tremendous career for himself in the cage, while cultivating a beautiful life outside of it.
He's right where he wants to be, right where he’s earned to be, and taking the steps that he feels are best to continue propelling himself forward toward the lofty goals he wants to accomplish before hanging up his four-ounce gloves and shifting his attention to something else like boxing or golf.
“I’m pretty handsome, as well, so maybe when I grow up a bit and puberty hits me a bit harder in the face, you might see me on a fashion show,” he says, cackling. “Who the f**k knows what’s next?”
No one does, but for right now, “The Future” is pretty pleased with the present, and just like everyone else, he’s eager to see how the rest of his story plays out.
“I could be in a lot worse situations,” he says. “Truth is, I’m a very happy man, enjoying my life, enjoying my journey; building a family, building a team, and building a special journey that I’m excited to watch unfold myself.”
New year, new goals: Ian Machado Garry's ideal 2024
While 2023 has yet to come to a close, Ian Machado Garry, like everyone else, is already thinking about how he’d like next year to look from a professional point of view, with three major goals that he’d like to knock off before 2024 wraps.
1. Something Involving a Conor McGregor fight
Whether it’s fighting on the same card or simply watching him compete, the Irish rising star wants to be in the building for the man that kicked in the door for Irish fighters in the UFC.
“I see-saw on this one a lot because do I want to fight on the same card as McGregor or do I want to be there and just watch it because I’ve never been there? Do I want to sit down and appreciate that man for what he is and everything that he’s done, or do I wanna have the energy to be there fight on the same card, stand side-by-side with him on the same stage? I still don’t know.”
2. Bring the UFC back to Ireland
The last time the UFC was in Dublin was October 2015; “The Future” was not yet 18 years old, but now he’s ready to see his name atop the marquee at 3Arena.
“I wanna bring the UFC back to Ireland, and I don’t mind if that’s the end of the year or the middle of the year. I’ve earned that now. I’ve earned that for ‘The Emerald Isle’ — to bring the UFC banner back to Ireland, be the main event, put on a show, and show my hometown that I’ve done it.”
3. Headline a card in Brazil
“And then I wanna do it in Brazil. I feel like those are the three things I wanna do next year: be on the same card as Conor or watch Conor’s fight, UFC Ireland, and UFC Brazil. I want to fight those three fights next year. Undefeated. Remain undefeated. Remain beautiful, still pretty, still as unbelievably talented than I am, if not even more impressive.”
...
