Who Is Ian Machado Garry's Wife? All About Layla Machado Garry (and the Sweet Reason the MMA Fighter Took Her Maiden Name!)

Mixed martial artist Ian Machado Garry has found his "soulmate" in his wife, Layla Machado Garry.

Since the professional athlete first posted with the sports journalist in March 2021, the two have experienced several milestones together. Ian and Layla wed in February 2022 before welcoming their son, Leandro Vegas Machado Garry, later that fall.

Prior to tying the knot with the MMA fighter, Layla was married to nutritionist Richard Cullen, with whom she shares a son. Today, their families are blended and have spent time on the road after Ian hired Cullen as a nutritionist on his team.

More recently, Layla was by Ian's side when he went up against Shavkat Rakhmonov for a UFC welterweight event and lost for the first time in his career on Dec. 7.

So who is Ian Machado Garry's wife? Here's everything to know about Layla Machado Garry and her relationship with the MMA fighter.

She's a sports broadcast journalist

Best known by her stage name, Layla Anna-Lee, she has racked up an impressive résumé as a sports broadcast journalist.

Speaking to The Telegraph in August 2014, Layla opened up about her mom's Brazilian roots and how she was exposed to children's programming from the South American country. After watching a notable TV presenter, she was inspired to forge a path to become a television host.

Since then, she's presented for ESPN, UFC, NBA, FIFA and UEFA, according to her website. Layla also served as the narrator of the London Olympic opening ceremony in July 2012 and co-hosted The Best FIFA Football Awards alongside actor Idris Elba in October 2017.

In addition, the British native hosted several programs for Cage Warriors, Karate Combat and Ultimate Boxxer. Layla was also the face of her own show on UFC Fight Pass titled 5 Reason Why. In 2021, Layla launched the UFC podcast Voice Notes, which released a dozen episodes that year.

She and Ian went Instagram official in 2021

While the couple haven't shared details about how they first met and when their relationship began, Ian shared a special moment they experienced in March 2021.

At the time, the MMA fighter posted photos of himself surrounded by boxes he was sorting through, seemingly during a move. “The start of our new chapter #grateful,” he wrote on Instagram.

A few days later, Ian shared another picture featuring Layla as they rode the elevator together. “Life is moving fast and I couldn’t be happier," he captioned the selfie.

Later that summer, in June 2021, Layla posted her first photo with Ian on her own Instagram, congratulating him on winning the Cage Warriors Welterweight Championship.

"Words will never do justice in expressing my joy and pride for you," she penned alongside a photo of them.

They married in Las Vegas in 2022

Ian and Layla married in late February 2022 in an intimate Las Vegas chapel wedding.

The bride wore a sweetheart rhinestone floor-length dress, while the groom opted for an all-white embossed suit.

Shortly after, Layla announced the news on Instagram with a series of photos. Over the next two weeks, both she and Ian posted more pictures of their elopement, including one of them in front of a drive-thru white chapel.

“Making a promise to have you by my side for life is all I ever need,” Ian captioned a snap of him and Layla holding hands at the altar.

On their second wedding anniversary, he penned her a heartfelt letter on Instagram, writing, in part, “Without you this journey wouldn’t be possible. You are everything to me.”

They share one child together

Ian and Layla welcomed their son, Leandro “Leo” Vegas Machado Garry, on Oct. 20, 2022.

Layla shared behind-the-scenes photos from her home birth on Instagram, thanking Leo “for gifting us so much joy already.”

In a different post, Ian praised Layla for inspiring him to be “a better man, husband and now father.”

“I literally couldn’t be more in awe of my wife if I tried. The way she handled everyday of pregnancy and the birth further adds to the admiration I have for her,” he wrote alongside a carousel of snapshots from their first week with Leo.

Layla is also a mom to an older son, whom she welcomed with her ex-husband, Cullen. In a self-published blog post, the sports journalist opened up about why she keeps her older child off social media and why she's committed to protecting his privacy.

“I'm insanely proud of my son and often have to hold back the desire to post adorably gorgeous photos of him," she wrote. "I naturally want to hold him up to the world and scream ‘Look at what we made he's awesome!’ but I have to hold back because that is his image."

Ian took Layla's maiden name as his own

In a February 2024 interview with CBS Sports, Ian opened up about hyphenating his last name to include “Machado.” The MMA fighter shared that while it acknowledged Layla's Brazilian roots, it was also a way to unify their family.

“Obviously, having the link to Brazil is amazing, and to be able to call them family, I'm very happy, very proud, very grateful," he said. "But the truth is, I only did it was because I wanted my son and my stepson to feel really connected."

Ian continued, "I didn’t want them going through life with two separate surnames. I feel like there’s a little bit of a disconnect, and if you guys want to be brothers, I want to make sure you guys have that same connection.”

During the conversation, he also confirmed that he hired Layla's ex-husband, Cullen, as a nutritionist so the family could stay together.

“We’ve worked phenomenally together,” Ian said. "He is a professional in one regard he’s also the father of my wife’s son. ... I understand that there’s a child in all of this, and he deserves to be prioritized.”

She and Ian have matching tattoos

In May 2023, Ian earned himself a top 15 spot in the UFC rankings after a first-round knockout win against Daniel Rodriguez. He and his team, alongside Layla, celebrated the career milestone with matching number 15 tattoos.

Ian showed off the fresh ink on his right shin in a since-deleted video, in which Layla also got the number tattooed on the left side of her ribcage.

However, this isn’t the pair's first shared tattoo experience. In 2021, Ian got Layla’s name tattooed in cursive on the side of his right forearm. They also have the same heart tattoo with an arrow on his hand and her forearm.

In addition, Ian got the word "soulmate" inked on his knuckles — a common phrase he and Layla call each other.

Read the original article on People