After climbing back into the win column in October, Geoff Neal is setting his sights on a return to the Octagon in April.
‘Handz of Steel’ snapped a two-fight losing skid at UFC 308, scoring a first-round TKO against former lightweight titleholder Rafael dos Anjos. The win was enough to keep Neal clinging to his No. 10 spot in the welterweight rankings, and if all goes according to plan, he’ll have an opportunity to work his way back up the contenders ladder later this year.
Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Neal revealed that he is expecting his third child in March, so an April return makes sense. However, if something interesting comes down the pipe between now and then, he’ll gladly jump on the opportunity.
“If there’s something before [April]—something lucrative—I’ll for sure jump on it,” Neal said. “I’m gonna stay ready because sometimes sh*t happens and I might get one of those, this is the only time you’re gonna get this opportunity, so I gotta take it. I’ll be ready, but more than likely I’ll be fighting in April.”
One name being passed around as a potential opponent for Neal in 2025 is rising contender Carlos Prates. Following Prates’ big first-round finish against Neil Magny in November, ‘The Nightmare’ called for a showdown with Neal.
Carlos Prates calls out Jack Della Maddelena & Geoff Neal after KO'ing Neil Magny 👀👏 pic.twitter.com/KRZiMFM7a7
— Best MMA Moments (@XcellentMMA) November 10, 2024
Asked about being matched up with Prates, ‘Handz of Steel’ admitted to having little interest in the fight, noting that he’d much prefer to fight someone higher up in the rankings than himself.
“It doesn’t interest me just because I want to fight up in the rankings, but the way things are looking and how the division’s looking, the only person that would make sense to fight ahead of me in the rankings is Gilbert [Burns],” Neal said. “I don’t see anybody else wanting to fight me or they’re just kind of like, ‘I just won my last fight’ and my last fight was against somebody who isn’t even ranked in our division. So it’s a tough one, but Gilbert is like my ideal fight that I want to get, but if push comes to shove, I’ll fight Carlos too.
“In April, I want to fight either one of those dudes.”
As for how he sees himself matching up against Prates, Geoff Neal believes it would be a fan-friendly fight with both of them pushing the pace and slinging heavy leather.
“He’s solid, man. He has power,” Neal continued. “He’s long, but styles make fights and I have yet to see how he matches up with my style because he’s not one of those fighters who’s going to fight long-range and point fight. We’re going to get in there and we’re going to be throwing hands so we’ll see how that goes.”
He continued, “Everybody’s durable until they get hit real hard. I’ve finished multiple durable opponents. I’m not gonna go into the cage holding onto my durability. I’m just trying not to get hit in the face. I’m not gonna rely on no durability. I’m just gonna move my f*cking head, but we’ll see. I look at a lot of his fights and I do believe I’m still better than him.”
Geoff Neal Likes the Idea of Fighting Colby Covington
One fight that never really entered Geoff Neal’s radar was a scrap with three-time UFC title challenger Colby Covington. Following Covington’s loss against Joaquin Buckley in December, ‘Chaos’ has fallen to No. 9 in the welterweight rankings—one spot above Neal.
Asked about potentially fighting Covington, Neal said:
“It does make sense. I’mma talk to my coach about that. For some reason, that never crossed my mind, but that is a good fight and the fans would love to see it.”
Another name that could eventually invade Neal’s division is reigning lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. This Saturday night, the ‘Dagestani Destroyer’ will put his gold on the line against the division’s top-ranked contender, Arman Tsarukyan. Should Makhachev deliver another dominant showing, there’s a strong possibility that he’ll make the move to 170 in pursuit of champ-champ status.
“If he can execute the same game plan that he does at 155, he’ll do good, but we’ll see how he does with the taller fighters,” Neal said of Makhachev’s chances to succeed at welterweight. “They might try to keep him away from taller fighters, to be honest. Just so we can get up there, but I don’t know how he’d do against the tall fighters. We’ll see.”
Watch the full exclusive interview below:
