Ian Garry's teammate Michael Chandler serves as Conor McGregor's opponent for his UFC comeback fight, but that hasn't stopped Garry from backing his countryman.
McGregor, 34, will look to pick up his first UFC win in over three years when he faces Chandler after coaching against the American on The Ultimate Fighter. Filming for the UFC's reality TV show has already begun in Las Vegas as the series will air from May to August, with McGregor and Chandler expected to fight in the fourth quarter of this year.
Garry is conflicted about the fight as he trains with Chandler at Sanford MMA, but was inspired to take up MMA because of the meteoric rise of former two-weight champion McGregor. 'The Future' admitted that he is backing McGregor for his UFC return as Chandler gives him stick day in and day out at the gym.
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"This is very simple," Garry told Mirror Fighting. "I have trained with one guy [Chandler] for a year. I like Mike, nothing against him but he's going up against a guy who inspired an entire nation. A guy who I've looked up to and inspired my entire nation. A guy who I've sat about been anxious about when he fights. A hundred per cent I'm team Notorious.
"I've already said this to the guys in the gym, I'm Team Conor every single day of the week. One guy has told me I'm late consistenly because he's always hallf an hour early to the gym. The other guy has done nothing but try and help me and inspire my entire career so f*** that. Team Conor baby!"
Chandler has previously compared Garry to McGregor because of his fighting abilities and charisma, with the 25-year-old boasting an unbeaten professional record of 10 wins. Garry is back in action against Song Kenan this Saturday on the undercard of Jon Jones' title fight in Las Vegas and he predicted a "violent" knockout of his opponent.
"Song Keenan hasn't fought in two years so the unknown is dangerous. When I think about myself. if you gave me two years off I would come back a completely different animal. So I'm expecting him to be the best Song Keenan I've every seen, but I'm going to knock his a** out and I'm going to do it f****ng violently. I want to cut him open, I want to hurt him and fold him. I want to hit him so hard that he goes stiff."
