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Sean Strickland and Ian Garry both love attention and controversy. They epitomize the current breed of UFC fighters who are trying to follow Conor McGregor’s road to fame and fortune by talking lots of crap. Naturally they’ve crossed verbal swords.
Sean Strickland started it last month, by saying some stuff in a video about Garry’s wife because she’s 14 years older than him and because she wrote a book called How to Be a WAG (WAG is a term for the wives and girlfriends of famous athletes).
“Guys, I never talk about anybody’s spouses but this sh*t ain’t right,” Strickland said in a video adding some context to the situation. “It ain’t f—ing right. I got to talk about it. Ian Garry, I remember when I met you dude, it was in New York. You were with this fine a** girl, she had the little nipple coverings. We all f—ing seen it right, everybody f—ing seen it but I remember thinking to myself, there ain’t something right about that girl. There’s something about that woman that ain’t f—ing right.
“This s—t ain’t right dude, she’s a succubus. You got to run away bro. Hot girls are a dime a dozen, we’ll get your ring girls, we’ll get you two at the same time bro. You got to pull the rip cord man, it ain’t f—ng right my friend. You got to pull that f—ing rip cord, I’m here for you, the MMA community is here for you to do the right thing Ian Garry.”
Ian Garry and Sean Strickland get into it at the UFC PI
Garry took it personally and was ready to make a scene at the UFC PI.
In a recent interview on the MMA Hour, Garry spoke about his confrontation with Strickland (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“My body went straight into fight mode, and then the doors closed,” Garry recalled, noting that he shouted something at Strickland after glimpsing him from the doors of an elevator. “There was nothing much to it, to be honest.”
“I would have f—ing talked to him, for sure,” Garry said. “I don’t know. See, this is the thing, I’m not going to start throwing hands with the bloke, because I’m a better person than that, and I would like to be above all the s—t that was said, and just sit there and be to him, ‘I feel sorry for you, man. I feel sorry for you — I feel sorry that all this s—t has you that hurt that you’re attacking everybody else.’
“I feel like that’s what I’d like to say — what I would have said, I don’t know.”
Garry also encouraged Strickland to take advantage of the UFC’s mental health services provided at the Performance institute, noting that that he hopes the champ takes time to deal with his own childhood issues.
“Don’t speak in that manner about anybody else on the planet,” Garry said. ”Deal with your issues first, and if I was someone who was throwing stones in the glass house vibes, protect your house first before you start throwing them at other people.”
UFC’s Laura Sanko just hopes these dudes can chill
Few faces have been as refreshing in the UFC’s commentary booth as former Invicta talent Laura Sanko. A longtime commentator for the woman-focused fight promotion as well, Sanko’s research heavy, focused play-by-play work has been a breath of fresh air in a broadcast product that often devolves into chit chat and petty bickering.
In a recent interview with fellow UFC commentator and former champion Michael Bisping (transcript via MMA Fighting), Sanko gave her thoughts on the Strickland/Garry drama, noting that while Garry was certainly within his rights to be mad at the Xtreme Couture talent for his comments, both men could be well served by putting a leash on their emotions.
“I miss your s—t talk honestly,” Sanko told Bisping. “I miss Chael [Sonnen], who could dress someone down in the most creative way, and he wouldn’t even cuss. I like the creativity of attacking the fighter himself. Fine, you wanna call him a p—y? You want to call him blah, blah, blah. I’m not innocent in that way. But you have to quit bringing in third parties, who have very little, or if nothing, to do with what’s going on. And I’m not necessarily even like saying that Ian Gary’s situation is blameless, because he did that to other people. … Everyone is a huge hypocrites. Ian’s a hypocrite. Sean’s a hypocrite.
“Like how about we all just stop being such a—holes and bring it back a little bit?”
Sean Strickland’s emotional interview
Sanko added that she gives Strickland full credit for his recent emotional breakdown in his interview with Theo Von, but it’s hard not to take note of how little Strickland seems to reflect on his own behavior.
“So on one hand, I’m giving Sean all the flowers in the world,” Sanko explained. “But you can’t in the same conversation say attacking wives is off limits and then call this woman a pedophile, which she clearly is not, OK. She’s not a pedophile.
“So you literally just said, you can’t attack people’s wives, and you called his wife something horrendous, and then did it more than once, and did it where the whole internet’s gonna see that. Her kids are gonna read it. So I applaud Ian for saying something, to be honest with you. I just wish we would all stop.”