ZestSync

Ian Garrys wife releases statement amid backlash for writing How to be a WAG before marryin

The wife of UFC welterweight contender Ian Garry has responded to criticism she’s received for writing a book on how to date athletes.

Last week, MMA fans stumbled across Layla Anna-Lee's ‘How to Be a WAG’, book and began bashing her for writing what has been interpreted as a guide for gold diggers.

Anna-Lee is 14 years older than the MMA star whom she has been in a relationship with since 2021 when he was a Cage Warriors prospect.

As Garry’s wife began receiving online hate messages, UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland added fuel to the fire by branding her a ‘succubus’ and imploring his colleague to 'run away'.

Anna-Lee has now publicly addressed the backlash she’s receiving.

“Looking at the hate and the majority of the clips and the comments that I’m getting, without a doubt, the biggest thing I’ve done wrong is age,” she said on her Instagram story.

READ MORE ON IAN GARRY

“I’ve got older, and I have birthdays every year, and that’s f***ing disgusting coming from a woman, especially. Getting older is not acceptable. I f***ed up there.”

The mother of Garry’s only child went on to dismiss her book as satire.

"I wrote a book called 'How to be a WAG', Anna-Lee continued.

"Now, that statement itself is a little bit of a stretch. I can hardly call myself an author of an 11-page audible-only satire story that was written in 2010.

Most read in MMA

“That context is key because that was during the FIFA World Cup when I was working at OK and various different gossip mags. We were creating this hilarious satire and look at wives and girlfriends in football.

"That satirical book, if you listen to it, is really silly and anybody who takes it as fact has completely missed the mark.

“At the time, it was a huge success. It went out, it was funny, and people got the joke.”

More than thirteen years later, Anna-Lee claims to have received ‘death threats’ after her old work went viral and she was pegged as a gold digger for marrying a young UFC fighter.

Garry is standing by his wife amid the onslaught of abuse she is facing.

The Irishman is currently preparing to fight his old teammate, Vicente Luque, at UFC 296 in Las Vegas on December 16, but is having to contend with multiple distractions during camp.

Not only has the undefeated fighter been forced to defend his relationship, but he’s also been forced to defend his character after being barred from training at Leon Edwards’ gym.

Only time will tell how the negative attention will impact Garry’s performance against his toughest opponent to date.

ncG1vNJzZmiskaG4tLzOq6tnm5%2BifLS8zquraGlmaoNzhJZooJqmXZyus77YZq6inpViwLWt056knqakYsSis4ybpqijXZeupLfLmqqhZw%3D%3D

Abbie Anker

Update: 2024-05-17