Darren Till has shocked everyone by praising Ian Garry.
The former MMA contender watched along from home as Ian Garry suffered the first loss of his career at the hands of Shavkat Rakhmonov on Saturday night.
A divisive figure, some people were celebrating after seeing the Irishman fall short at UFC 310, but Darren Till insists that he deserves praise for his performance.
Especially after he nearly scored a submission victory in the final round.
Darren Till sends message to Ian Garry’s haters
‘The Gorilla’ admitted he’s not Garry’s biggest fan after UFC 310, but he didn’t explain the issue he has with the 15-1 welterweight contender.
Till simply said that this is not the moment to hate on the 27-year-old.
Right now, he wants to congratulate Garry on a brilliant effort against a man many people consider the best 170lb fighter in MMA.
Till tweeted: “You can all hate on Ian Garry as much as you want and I will aswell but let’s not deny he’s a f***ing great fighter That 5th round he nearly had him.”
The comment section was filled with fans who agreed with Till. It appears that in defeat, Garry has earned more credit than he did for his previous wins over Michael ‘Venom’ Page and Geoff Neal.
Ian Garry happy with UFC 310 performance
Garry was relatively content immediately following his first professional MMA loss.
After receiving praise from Conor McGregor, he spoke with reporters about not feeling like he had been beaten, despite officially falling to a unanimous decision defeat.
“I don’t feel like I lost today,” Garry told reporters at the UFC 310 post-fight press conference. “I might’ve not gotten my hand raised, but I came out, and I fought a giant. I came out, and I fought the boogeyman, and I showed that he’s f***ing human.
“I went out there on three weeks’ notice, I saved this event, I saved this card and against the scariest man in the division. I went out there and I stopped almost everything.
“There was no point where he looked like he was going to finish the fight, and I put him in two submissions. I took his back, and I had fun.
“I showed that I can hang with the single best in the division and proved tonight, on short notice, that I can absolutely be a champion. I can do it for five rounds and there are no holes in my game. There was nothing that man brought for me tonight.
“He won by opinion, and that’s ok. That’s ok. I can live with that.”