"Brings his girlfriend with him" - Leon Edwards discloses the reasons behind Ian Garry's departure from their gym
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards and undefeated welterweight Ian Garry were recently embroiled in a gym conflict.
Garry was asked to stop training at Edwards' gym, Team Renegade, and was told to not come back. According to him, the coaches at the gym wanted to avoid a situation where two rivals in the same division trained together, and also saw Garry as a potential threat to Edwards' title.
In a recent interview with Rio Ferdinand, Leon Edwards addressed the conflict and clarified why Garry wasn't allowed back in the gym. 'Rocky' said:
“That wasn’t the reason [he’s in the division]. That’s the reason he said. That wasn’t the reason, the coach and the gym that we’re trying to build even though I’m a world champion, I still abide by the same rules as the amateur. Difference is with Ian, was like when he comes in, he brings cameras with him, brings his girlfriend with him. He’s late to the sessions, there’s a lot going on, you know. So the coaches and the team decided that like, we wish you luck in your journey but your culture doesn’t fit our culture."
Edwards also explained the effects of such behavior on other fighters in the gym.
"And that’s the third gym now he’s been kicked out. Clearly a reason why. There’s a lot of people in the gym that are in my division. Once one starts slipping, then you feel okay. If he can do it, I can do it. He ain’t cleaning the mats, I ain’t cleaning the mats. Eventually it breaks the team down.”
Check out his comments below:
Leon Edwards wants to be the first double champ from the UK
Leon Edwards was the first fighter of Jamaican origin to win a UFC title, but he aims to also be the first from the UK to reach double champ status.
With his friend and former champion Israel Adesanya's recent loss in the middleweight division, Edwards sees an opportunity to move up and challenge for the title. 'Rocky' stated in the interview that it was definitely part of his grander plan and is a motivation for him to keep going.
He said:
"It has to be done, 100%, strap up. I walk around quite big anyway and I always wanted to move up but I'm friends with Israel Adesanya, but now he's taken a back step a little bit, why not? Why not move up and try and be great? ...That would be history. Nobody from the UK has done it. To be able to do that, I think motivates the whole MMA and the sport in general in the UK."
Check out Leon Edwards' comments in the interview below [16:15]: