Ian Garry expressed frustration in the wake of his removal from UFC 296, while Vicente Luque showed class while taking it in stride.
Saturday’s anticipated welterweight matchup between Garry (13-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) and Luque (22-9-1 MMA, 15-5 UFC) was scratched Wednesday when UFC CEO Dana White announced the undefeated Irishman had a case of pneumonia that would prevent him from competing at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Garry was looking to get out on the other side of a dramatic pre-fight build where he’s been the spotlight of fans, fighters and media with a win, but it won’t happen. He claims it was not his call, though, and ultimately the UFC doctors opted to pull him from the card.
“I have pneumonia,” Garry told MMA journalist Ariel Helwani in a statement. “They tried everything to help me. In the end, UFC doctor said there’s no chance I can fight. The UFC doctor made the call. … This annoys me more than anyone. I want to fight. It’s my favorite thing to do.”
Luque, 32, had the opportunity to unseat the hyped Garry and put himself back on the map in the 170-pound pecking order at UFC 296. He displayed all class when discussing Garry’s pre-fight situation at media day, and unsurprisingly, the Brazilian acted no different in the wake of the cancellation.
“First of all, I wish the best recovery. Speedy recovery for him, and the best for his family – and it’s really unfortunate,” Luque said on Instagram. “I was so ready for this fight. I’ve had a great training camp. Anybody that sees me on social media sees a little bit of what I’ve been doing. They know how ready I am for this fight. Weight cut has been going so, so good – the easiest weight cut I’ve ever had in my career. I have all my team here supporting me. A lot of guys came out in this fight. A lot of people supported me to come watch the fight, as well, and unfortunately it’s not going to happen.
“It’s out of my control. Everything that I could do, everything that I have control of in my job and really put my heart into this, I did. I gave it my all. Unfortunately, we cannot really control everything. As I said, I wish the best. I wish recovery for Ian. Now it’s time for me to rest. I did have a hard training camp.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
