Mixed martial arts professional Paddy Pimblett has made a bold statement amid an ongoing rivalry, claiming that the simmering feud between Leon Edwards and Ian Garry was put to rest within the confines of the gym. This revelation comes after Garry was reportedly excluded from Edwards’ Team Renegade, one of his primary training hubs which he shares with Kill Cliff FC in South Florida. Garry accused Edwards of shutting him out of the gym to evade his own “doubts and insecurities”. Meanwhile, Team Renegade attributes the decision to Garry’s wandering nature which did not harmonize with the gym’s ideology.
Pimblett recently stirred the pot with a significant gym rumor, while discussing prospects of who could be Edwards’ potential opponents, during an interview. He expressed that Shavkat Rakhmonov could take on “Rocky” Edwards if he could overcome Stephen Thompson at UFC 296. He, however, brushed off the possibility of Ian Garry as a contender, arguing that this issue was already resolved when Garry was defeated or “knocked out” by Edwards during a training session. Pimblett stated bluntly that Ian Garry^[5] was not worthy of a title shot and added, “Leon’s already knocked him out in training, so we don’t need to know about that. That’s what I’ve heard.”
Furthermore, Veronica Hardy, one of Team Renegade’s members, shared that Garry had been prohibited from several gyms in the United Kingdom as he failed to adhere to fundamental principles like respect and punctuality, and was involved in spreading gossip. As far as Edwards is concerned, he is all set to defend his welterweight title against Colby Covington in a leading match of UFC 296 slated for Dec. 16. Edwards, a native of Birmingham, England, previously delivered consecutive title wins over Kamaru Usman, the one responsible for Covington’s recent string of defeats. Pimblett, while aware that the equations of Mixed Martial Arts seldom add up, remains certain about Edwards emerging victorious against “Chaos”. He stated firmly, “Leon’s gonna beat him up…he just beat Usman twice who beat Colby twice. But in the third fight, Usman couldn’t get Leon down so I don’t think Colby is gonna be able to. So I think Leon’s gonna absolutely beat him up.”