Garry Lost Respect For Excuseman
12/23/2024 02:02 PM
Ian Garry had Kamaru Usman on a pedestal.
Right up until the former 170-pound champion turned down a fight against "The Future," leaving Garry with a bitter taste in his mouth. The once-beaten welterweight went on to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov, dropping a decision at UFC 310 earlier this month in Las Vegas.
"I had a lot of respect for him, until he turned me down," Garry told Spaceport Sweden. "That's a fact. He turned the fight with me down and that's it. I had a lot of respect for him. I had a lot of respect for him and his career and everything that he did as the champion. And when I was a young kid watching the sport and I was an amateur and I'm watching him fight Gilbert Burns for the world title during COVID and I'm like 'f**k, this guy's one of the best we've seen'. That was the opinion the world had of him at that point."
Usman (20-4) defended the title five times over a span of three years.
"When that same guy turns down a fight against you, it changes the way you think about him," the 27 year-old Garry (15-1) continued. "So I had respect for Kamaru, might be still a little bit, but not much after you turned me down, not much. And I don't care what his excuses are. I don't care what his excuses are. You turned down the fight. In my mind, you're a b*tch."
He's not the only one, according to this recent gripe.
Usman has not competed since falling to Khamzat Chimaev in a short-notice bout at UFC 294 back in late 2023. "The Nigerian Nightmare" claims his time off has led to a slew of abuse, comparing his plight to that of heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones.
Garry, meanwhile, expects to return in mid-2025.
"Every year since I've been in the UFC, I fought three times every year," Garry said. "So if I don't fight until International Fight Week next year, then you're seeing me in June or July. You're seeing me in September. You're seeing me in December. If I don't fight the first six months of the year, just because I want to focus on myself and grow and make minor adjustments and then I'm 10 times the fighter I am. That's my main focus, but I will fight three times next year and I will win the belt next year."
As of this writing, Usman remains unbooked.
