Ian Machado Garry is not a fan of Sean Strickland, but regardless of their issues, he believes the UFC middleweight champion should seek professional help.
Garry and Strickland have been linked in the media in recent weeks as the two have thrown shots at each other publicly in interviews, press conferences and on social media. It’s mainly been Strickland criticizing Garry’s marriage, with Garry firing back at him.
Recently, Strickland shared details about his childhood trauma in an emotional interview with Theo Von. In the interview, Strickland said his upcoming UFC 297 opponent, Dricus Du Plessis, went too far in their trash talk by mentioning his abusive dad, and Garry took that opportunity to criticize Strickland for dishing similar type of trash talk.
Garry believes Strickland should seek mental health help and address his issues, believing they’re the reason Strickland is lashing out at him.
“I don’t personally care what happened in his childhood, what happened in his past that has him the way he is now,” Garry said Monday on “The MMA Hour.” “I don’t care what happened. Don’t attack and project your pain onto other people and other people’s families because you can’t deal with it correct.
“The UFC (Performance Institute) has mental health and ways to deal with athletes’ mental health. Go talk to them and deal with it the way it should be dealt with. Get rid of it, release it, express it because to attack other people’s families and loved ones because you have childhood trauma is completely unfair. It’s inexcusable. That’s where I kind of sit there and feel sorry for him, but equally at the same point I don’t give a f*ck what happened in his childhood. Don’t speak in that manner about anybody else on the planet. Deal with your issues first.”
With Strickland the current UFC middleweight champion and Garry a rising contender at welterweight, a fight between the two doesn’t make too much sense. However, Garry sees a scenario in which he ends up fighting Strickland at the end of the year.
“Whether it’s this year or next year, I’d love (to fight) Sean Strickland because any man, any person that mentions me and my family in that way, I’m going to get my hands on them,” Garry said. “In an ideal world, towards the end of the year, I don’t think Sean Strickland is going to be world champion. I believe there’s absolutely an opportunity to step into middleweight and give him a hurting, and maybe I’ll beat him so bad that he’ll forget all that childhood trauma, and he can thank me.”