Geoff Neal says he made a dangerous decision in the lead up to his fight with Neil Magny last weekend.
UFC welterweight Geoff Neal lost a unanimous decision to Neil Magny at UFC Vegas 26 on Saturday. In that fight, Neal looked sharp in the first round, but as the fight wore on he seemed incapable of keeping up with Magny’s pace or offering any kind of challenge to the eventual winner.
Since then Neal has taken to social media to reveal the frightening circumstances he endured ahead of that bout. In his Instagram post Neal said he has been unwell every since suffering from sepsis last year.
Neal added that he was close to pulling out of the Magny fight after severe bouts of sickness. Neal said this illness lead to him weighing 208 pounds a week from the fight. This meant he cut 37 lbs in just seven days.
Neal wrote that attempting to cut that amount of weight was probably a “dangerous” and “stupid” decision.
“Well there goes another one lol. Felt really good in the first round and the second one was close. Even in defeat I’m still proud of this one as well. It was another honor to step in there with another crafty veteran in @neil_magny170. I’m probably gonna take some time away and take care of my health a little bit. My body hasn’t been right since I got sepsis last year. I’ve been dealing with off and on sickness and severe lack of energy since then. I almost pulled out of this fight last week because I was vomiting/diarrhea for 3 days and after having to rehydrate and replenish what my body lost I found myself sitting at 208 pounds exactly 1 week before weigh ins. But I got issues, so I said fuck it and cut 37 pounds in a week anyway. Lol Probably a super dangerous/stupid decision, but nothing great ever gets done trying to play it safe. Gonna go on my FIRST real vacation to Hawaii next week, come back, get some blood test done to figure out what’s going on with my body and I PROMISE you I will be back with a vengeance. Thanks to all my Coaches and teammates who helped my through this camp. And thanks again to @neil_magny170. That was a solid veteran performance .”
Neal said he is now going to take a vacation to Hawaii. When he returns he plans to get some blood work done so he can figure out why he got so sick. Despite his health concerns Neal vowed that he would return to the Octagon when he was fit and healthy.
Neal is currently on the only losing streak of his 17 fight career. Before losing to Magny he dropped a unanimous decision to Stephen Thompson in December. Prior to that Neal was on a seven fight winning streak.
He entered the UFC after an impressive showing in season three of the Contender Series in 2017. After that he submitted Brian Camozzi in his proper UFC debut. Since then he has KO’d Frank Camacho, taken a decision over Belal Muhammad and TKO’d both Niko Price and Mike Perry.