Neil Magny isn’t typically one to get caught up in trash talk.

The UFC welterweight division’s all-time leader in wins last fought in a short-notice affair at UFC 292 in August. Magny filled in for his fellow veteran Geoff Neal to face rising undefeated Irish star Ian Machado Garry. Unfortunately for the 36-year-old, he was dealt an 11th career loss in his 39 outings when Garry won a one-sided unanimous decision.

In the very brief build-up to the bout, Garry (13-0) targeted Magny personally, and specifically went after a comment Magny made towards Garry, saying he’d give him “a whooping that you give your son.” Garry ran with it and went on to call Magny an abusive father and state how such contexts shouldn’t be used and are never funny. Since then, Garry has pulled out of his upcoming fight at UFC 296 that was scheduled for tomorrow night against Vicente Luque. “The Future” has cited pneumonia as the reason for his withdrawal.

The timing is brutal for Garry within the community, not only with it coming after his verbal attack on Magny, but drama has followed the Irishman in the form of a gym departure and a resurfacing of a controversial book published by his wife Layla Anna-Lee. Therefore, the online backlash has to have made Garry already hesitant about his public obligations before his fight was canceled. Despite their history, Magny isn’t at all basking in the fallout.

“I’m fortunate now that like the majority of that stuff is behind me,” Magny told Middle Easy. “That didn’t affect me too drastically when it comes to my family life and that kind of thing. But, it’s unfortunate to see someone’s personal life be drug up the way his life has been drug up and all the stuff that he has to go through currently. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody, especially when you consider the entire family dynamic and all the people are involved in there.

“Like yeah, him and his wife may have whatever going on, but at the end of the day, regardless of what’s going on, they share a child together. That child deserves the right to grow up knowing he has two loving parents or whatever. Again, all this stuff drug out into the media, out in the open, that kind of thing — I don’t think anyone is deserving of that regardless what they may or may not have done to me. I’m not gonna sit back and necessarily take joy in seeing that play out with somebody.”

Garry’s win over Magny was his biggest to date and his sixth straight in the octagon. It’s unknown at this time whether or not the matchup with Luque will be rebooked as Kevin Holland has teased the possibility of taking Garry’s place.

Magny, on the other hand, will look to rebound sooner rather than later when he faces Mike Mallott at UFC 297 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on January 20. Ideally, “The Haitian Sensation” will one day score a rematch with Garry, but he won’t hold his breath.

“If I’m being honest, it’s unfortunate,” Magny continued to reflect on his brief saga with Garry. “Having gone through what I got gone through based off of some of the statements and antics that Ian Garry said during fight week, it definitely caused some personal turbulence in my life, so to speak. But at the end of the day, I have to take accountability for the things that left my mouth and take accountability for the words that left my mouth. I definitely made statements that he was able to spin and play out in a different way than what I have intended to.

“At the end of the day, that’s on me. I was the one who made those statements, made those statements publicly. How someone else perceived them or spun them — that’s outta my control, but I kind of gave him that opportunity to be able to do so. I have to own that fact and live with it, so to speak.”

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TOP STORIES

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Rivals. Leon Edwards, Colby Covington nearly erupt into melee after insult aimed at champ’s late father

Critique. Tony Ferguson fires back at critics over training with David Goggins ahead of UFC 296

Winners. World MMA Awards 2023 results

Loss. UFC 296 loses Randy Brown vs. Muslim Salikhov, down to 12 bouts

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VIDEO STEW

Between the Links

Embedded 4.

Pantoja vs. Royval 2 preview.

Matt Serra‘s conditioning test.

Full fight.

Usman dissects UFC 296.

Wonderboy’s picks.

The War Room: Ferguson vs. Pimblett.

Fancy Pantoja vs. Royval 2 preview.

Weidman’s Return trailer.

Zombie Trip.

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MORNING MUSIC

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Prep.

Wicked.

That is what they say.

Dangerous game to play.

Goals.

Out.

Reaction.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

I’d still like to see Luque vs. Garry. There’s no reason it can’t be thrown onto UFC 297 or UFC 298 at the latest.

Happy Friday, gang. Here’s to hoping the UFC goes out with a bang on its final card of the year. Have a good and safe weekend. Thanks for reading!

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EXIT POLL

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