Ahead of his upcoming clash against Geoff Neal at UFC 292, undefeated UFC welterweight Ian Garry has taken it upon himself to play the role of antagonist.
Yet to be defeated as a professional, Ian Garry has made waves in the UFC since his debut in 2021, putting together an impressive 5:0 record inside the Octagon, with back-to-back highlight reel KOs. The former Cage Warriors champion is now presented with both his biggest chance and biggest test to date when he is the face of #8 ranked Geoff Neal. This will mark Garry’s first chance to break into the top 10 of the highly competitive welterweight division.
The typically respectful and well-spoken Garry has taken a different approach in the lead-up to this fight, however. Whilst attending UFC 290 this past Saturday, the Irishman could be seen wearing a custom print t-shirt that boasted a large print of Neal’s mugshot across the front, captioned by his very own nickname “The Future”.
Images of the star wearing the t-shirt were posted to his Instagram, along with a link to his merchandise shop, where fans are able to purchase the t-shirt in question for the price of £20, which he has labelled the “13-0” tee. 13:0 will be Garry’s professional MMA record if he beats Neal this coming August.
November 2021 saw Neal detained in his home state of Texas on Thanksgiving Day when he was met with DUI charges. Released on bail, no issues ever arose from the arrest and he has had no since run-ins with the law, although this did not stop Garry from obtaining his mugshot for his own antics.
Unsurprisingly, the wind-up act was met with bitter reactions from both Geoff along with his father, who addressed the situation in a Facebook post yesterday afternoon.
Ian Garry was wearing a t-shirt with Geoff Neal’s mugshot 👀 pic.twitter.com/rbKajK4xSH
— Combat Sports Today 📰 (@CSTodayNews) July 10, 2023
“Turns out Ian Garry is straight trash. That’s Geoff’s mug shot on his shirt. Weirdo thought it would be cute to wear this shirt to UFC 290. He’s so far back from the necessary fighters that no one gave a damn. I hope like hell he stays healthy so he makes the 19th. It’s been a minute since somebody spoke out of place…ask Bilal and Mike Perry how that worked out for them”
Another screenshot appears to show a text interaction between Geoff and his father. Brief yet informative, it told us all we needed to know about Handz of Steel’s newfound attitude towards his opponent.
“He’s dead”.
Playing the role of the heel against a no-nonsense opponent such as Neal could work in either direction of Ireland’s Garry. Either the mental games will help him get into his opponent’s head, or they will unleash the strength of one of the division’s most devastating power punchers. High risk, high reward.
Subscribe
