Former UFC Star Slams Ian Garry For Publicly Idolizing Conor McGregor

A former UFC fighter feels Ian Garry is making a marketing blunder by idolizing Conor McGregor.

(via Ian Garry's social media)

In the mind of one former UFC star, Ian Garry is dropping the ball by looking up to Conor McGregor, and celebrating his spot in the top 15 rankings.

Garry is quickly rising in the UFC welterweight ranks. He's coming off a first-round TKO victory over Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Charlotte this past Saturday (May 13). With the win, Garry now finds himself in the number 13 spot on the official UFC welterweight rankings. Before the rankings were updated, Garry got a tattoo of the number 15 to celebrate that he made it on the contender list.

The Future Team got Tattoos in a particularly lovely font 😉 #15 pic.twitter.com/5m60ov90jC

— “The Future” Ian Machado Garry (@iangarryMMA) May 15, 2023

READ MORE: Ian Garry Reveals Which UFC Star He'll Never Fight

The tattoo didn't sit well with former UFC middleweight title contender Chael Sonnen, who took to his YouTube channel to question whether or not Garry actually thinks he can be a world champion.

"Garry's a damn good fighter, he's an undefeated fighter," Sonnen said. "He's got a hell of a lot better record, as of recent, than the person that he's putting over [Conor McGregor]. Does he believe he can be world champion or not? I did believe that he could be. I did until I found out that he's content with 15. Fifteen's an embarrassment. I'm not trying to take away, right? You guys that did it, good for you. Wasn't even an option for me. When I was fighting back when men were men, we didn't go to 15, I'll tell you that much. We did not go to 15, that is silly, and now I got a guy that's happy with it."

Sonnen also took aim at Garry for idolizing his fellow Irishman Conor McGregor. "The American Gangster" claimed in the video that Garry basically told people that McGregor is his ceiling and he can't go above him in terms of stardom and legacy.

"You chose to market yourself as a nuthugger to a guy who isn't licensed," Sonnen said.

The former UFC fighter did praise Garry, expressing his belief that by all metrics, "The Future" is better than the athlete he idolizes. With that said, Sonnen thinks Garry is giving mixed signals on whether or not he's confident in his abilities.

READ MORE: Ian Machado Garry Calls Out Top Welterweight Following TKO Win at UFC Charlotte

If you use any quotes from this article, please leave an H/T to MMA Knockout for the transcription.

Stick with MMA Knockout for more daily coverage of the UFC and MMA

Follow MMA Knockout on Twitter and Facebook.