Daniel Cormier defends Leon Edwards for imposing gym ban on Ian Machado Garry

By Susan Cox - November 6, 2023

Daniel Cormier is defending Leon Edwards for imposing a gym ban on Ian Machado Garry.

Daniel Cormier, Leon Edwards, UFC

UFC 296 which takes place on Saturday, December 16th will see Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA) vs. Colby Covington (17-3 MMA) in the welterweight main event title fight.

Also on the card will be Ian Machado Garry (13-0 MMA) vs. Vicente Luque (22-9 MMA) in a welterweight bout.

The Leon Edwards team has imposed a gym ban on Machado Garry.

Daniel Cormier, speaking on his ‘Funky and the Champ’ Youtube show, doesn’t believe there’s anything wrong with imposing the ban on the up-and-coming Garry:

“I was very close to this, right? I experienced it with Cain and then I saw it with Khabib (Nurmagomedov) and Islam (Makhachev). It never became an issue, but we were all day one partners. Where I agree with Len Edwards is this: Ian Garry is a tremendous young talent. He’s a guy that looks like a future world champion. But he’s also a guy that does not have a problem fighting a teammate.”

Continuing, the former light heavyweight and heavyweight UFC titleholder Daniel Cormier said (h/t MMANews):

“Ian Garry’s fighting Vicente Luque. Those guys shared the mats at Kill Cliff, one of his actual teams, for years. The moment they were given the opportunity to fight, they took it. I think that may be part of the reason Leon Edwards is going, ‘I don’t know if I want this guy in my gym, learning my skillset, learning what we do as a team.  I can’t blame him… By no means is Leon Edwards wrong because Leon Edwards does have (Machado Garry’s) behaviors to look at in the past.”

Edwards’ team shared that Garry’s ‘nomadic approach’ to training doesn’t suit the environment they’re creating at the Birmingham-based facility.

What do you think of Garry being banned from the gym by the Edwards team? Do you agree with Daniel Cormier?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!


Topics:

Daniel Cormier Ian Garry Leon Edwards UFC