Why did Ian Garry start using 'Machado' for UFC? Irish star's middle name controversy explained
A few fights into his UFC career, Ian Garry added the middle name, Machado, to his name. The UFC announcers subsequently started introducing him as Ian Machado Garry.
Soon thereafter, speculation surfaced that the name, Machado, was connected to Garry's wife Layla Anna-Lee. Some fans claimed that Machado was the name of Anna-Lee's ex-husband (Richard Cullen) and that the UFC fighter had taken his last name.
However, a report by UFC interviewer/analyst Megan Olivi suggests that there's no truth to the aforementioned claims.
Heading into Garry's welterweight bout against Gabriel Green at UFC 276 on July 2, 2022, the UFC commentary team shed light upon the addition of Machado to his name. UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik suggested that during fight week, it was confirmed that Garry changed his name.
Megan Olivi addressed the same and highlighted that Machado was the last name of UK sports presenter Layla Anna-Lee. Machado was her maiden name, as she was born Layla Machado to a Brazilian mother and an English father of Irish and Scottish ancestry.
Layla Anna-Lee has two children -- the first being a son, Lucas, from her relationship with Richard Cullen. Her son had the last name Machado.
Megan Olivi alluded that in April 2022, Layla Anna-Lee and Garry confirmed that they were expecting their first child together. Noting that they wanted both of Anna-Lee's children to have a common name and foster togetherness. Olivi said:
"Yeah, that's correct. His wife Layla is Brazilian, and Machado was her last name. She has a son, who also has Machado in his name. And now that she's expecting a child with Garry, they wanted to make sure the brothers had a name in common so that they felt they were all one big family with co-parenting. So, they all added it to their name, so that no one feels left out."
Check out Olivi's comments below:
Ian Garry's middle name fiasco and UFC 296 withdrawal underlined his tumultuous 2023
Highly touted UFC welterweight Ian Garry was scheduled to fight Vicente Luque at UFC 296 on December 16, 2023. However, UFC CEO Dana White later confirmed that Garry was afflicted by pneumonia and had to pull out of the fight.
The 27-year-old's withdrawal from UFC 296 added to the list of his setbacks in what had been a turbulent year for him.
For several months, the Irishman was relentlessly trolled by his detractors over the Machado middle name fiasco.
Besides, MMA personalities such as Sean Strickland unleashed a volley of derogatory remarks against Garry and Layla Anna-Lee. Strickland and a few others alleged that Anna-Lee's 2010 book, 'How to be a WAG,' encourages females to ensnare and exploit famous sportspersons.
Moreover, it was rumored that her ex-husband lives with the couple. Regardless, Anna-Lee shut down the rumors by asserting that her book was a satire and that her ex-husband doesn't live with them.
Garry returned to action at UFC 303 against Michael 'Venom' Page and emerged victorious by unanimous decision. He is set to take on Shavkat Rakhmonov in the UFC 310 co-main event in a welterweight title eliminator bout. The event will take place at the T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.