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Geoff Neal has quickly become one of the fastest-rising contenders not only in the stacked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight division, but in all of mixed martial arts (MMA).
Winner of seven in a row, Neal is a perfect 5-0 inside the Octagon, with four of those victories coming by way of stoppage including his dominant first-round knockout of Mike Perry at UFC 245 (see it).
Ranked No. 10 at the moment, Neal says he is willing to take on any and all comers, but if he had his pick of the litter he’d love to throw down against Michael Chiesa…and it’s personal. Indeed, “Handz of Steel” says he would love nothing more than to humble “Maverick” if given the chance, seeing as how he seems to have some sort of sense of entitlement in a division that’s he’s only competed in three times.
“The fight makes perfect sense. He wants to chase after Colby Covington – you only have three fights in the welterweight division and you’ve fought two dudes that are (expletive) ’55ers,” he told MMA Junkie. You can’t really say that you were above me. He has this air of entitlement and I (expletive) hate that (expletive).”
Chiesa (No. 8) is currently ranked two spots ahead of Neal, but the promotion has been known to pit to fighters against one another with even bigger gaps in the rankings. “Maverick” has won all three of his fights at 170 pounds against Carlos Condit, Diego Sanchez and Rafael dos Anjos.
After picking up three straight wins over names like that, one can understand why he is shooting his shot at some high-ranked like Covington. But since “Chaos” hasn’t event come remotely close to acknowledging him, Chiesa might want to start looking elsewhere or a fight.
Should a fight against “Maverick” not come to be, Neal says he would love nothing more than to help Tyron Woodley stay busy, as the former champion recently declared he’d love to compete twice more before the years is over.
“Woodley said something that’s he’s looking for a fight,” Neal said. “I’m down. Hopefully he’ll accept that.”
Having not competed in seven months, Neal recently revealed he went back to work part time at steakhouse in Texas to keep himself busy and to make a little bit of change. While his lack of activity inside the cage can be partly attributed to COVID-19, Neal says his delay started way before that, as not many 170 pounders are willing to sing on the dotted line.
That’s why the former “Contender Series” alum says he may have to simply start fighting anyone willing to get in there with him, regardless of their status in the rankings.
“Of course I want to move up in the rankings but it’s getting to that point where I’m just going to take whatever opportunity that’s going to come my way,” Neal said. “I want Chiesa, Ponzinibbio, I wanted ‘Wonderboy’ but I doubt he’ll take that fight; Lawler, Woodley. But it’s getting to that point where I might have to fight backwards.”
You know the players, anyone stand out to you as a perfect opponent for Neal?