Neil Magny plans on putting undefeated Irish standout Ian Garry in his place come Saturday night.
Magny will make his return to the Octagon on a very short ten-day notice as he replaces Garry’s original UFC 292 opponent, Geoff Neal. Ahead of his highly anticipated return, the ‘Haitian Sensation’ sat down with Mike Owens in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview to discuss his opponent and the brief preparations he went through after receiving a call from the UFC with the offer to step in.
“Ian Garry’s a guy that came on my radar a couple months ago. I was very aware of his fighting style, his abilities, and that kind of thing so I had a general idea of how we’re fighting if that fight ever came through,” Magny said. “Then once the fight became of official, I reached out to my coaches, let them know what was happening. Had a conversation of what it would look like if I do fight against him.
“We went in there, we rehearsed it in sparring then watched more film and broke it down how we want the game plan to pay out. I was super confident that I’m more than ready and capable of going out there and get the job done on Saturday.”
Asked why he would take such a high-profile fight on less than two weeks’ notice, Magny said it was nothing more than taking advantage of a great opportunity to compete against a fast-rising fighter on a premium main card.
“It’s a great opportunity. It’s a pay-per-view main card fight against a huge upcoming opponent,” Magny continued. “It’s an undefeated opponent so it’s a great opportunity to go out there and not only proves to myself and the world that I’m one of the best welterweights out there. To go out there and take out a guy like Ian Garry would do just that for me.”
Admittedly, one of the reasons Neil Magny was so excited about the opportunity was the chance to put Ian Garry in his place. In recent months, the Irish prospect has taken a page from the Conor McGregor guide to trash-talk, suggesting that he is the true star of UFC 292. Magny also believes ‘The Future’ took things a bit too far when he brandished a t-shirt with the mugshot of his previously scheduled opponent, Geoff Neal.
Garry ruffled a few more feathers when he revealed that the shirt was for sale on his own website.
“At the end of the day, for me, I feel like it adds more fuel to the fire. When he wore the mugshot picture of Geoff Neal, that’s something I took personal for Geoff Neal, you know what I mean. As a fighter, fighting is just a small part of who we are. We have all these things we do outside the cage that is actually a true representation of who we are. So being a guy who’s experienced the highest of highs and the lowest through life itself, when you see someone take one of your lowest moments and make a joke of it and put it out there and prance around about it, that just didn’t sit well with me.
“I remember telling my training partner specifically, ‘Man, if Geoff doesn’t this kid, I will’ kind of thing. It’s kind of like giving him a dose of reality. Hey, man, it’s not cool. We’re professionals here. There are certain lines you don’t necessarily need to cross. Everyone knows wives, children, and that kind of thing should be left out of promoting a fight. I feel like attacking someone at their lowest should be left out as well.”
Ian Garry is selling the Geoff Neal mugshot T-Shirt on his IG shop lol pic.twitter.com/Df77MikbEw
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) July 12, 2023
Neil Magny Offers His Take on Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington
Shifting gears, Neil Magny was asked for his thoughts on the long-teased welterweight title tilt between perennial contender Colby Covington and reigning 170-pound king Leon Edwards.
“I feel like Colby’s fighting style is a very difficult style for a guy like Leon to deal with and Colby’s the guy that’s like, regardless of how the fight’s going,” Magny said. “Regardless of what the crowd’s saying, regardless of the feedback he’s getting, he’s going to stay true to his fighting style. He’s not going to abandon his game plan or try to necessarily appeal to the audience on fight night to kind of cater to them.
“He’s going to stick to the game plan to outwrestle his opponent. He’s going to do that for 15-25 minutes or however long it takes to get it done.
“Some guys have the tendency of, ‘Oh, man, the crowd didn’t like that. Maybe I should switch it up mid-fight’ or whatever. I don’t see Colby making that kind of mistake and I feel like that’ll be a real difficult pressure and pace for Leon to keep up with in my opinion.”
Recent rumors suggested that Covington will step into the Octagon with ‘Rocky’ at UFC 295 when the promotion returns to the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden. Though Covington has gone on record suggesting that event headliner Jon Jones won’t allow ‘Chaos’ to compete on the same card as the reigning heavyweight world champion.
