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Geoff Neal undoubtedly didn’t admire Ian Machado Garry making and promoting a t-shirt together with his mugshot emblazoned on it, but it surely seems that didn’t hassle him practically as a lot because the Irish prospect claimed after their initially scheduled combat at UFC 292 was cancelled.
Again in July — simply weeks earlier than they have been scheduled to conflict — Machado Garry proudly displayed a shirt with Neal’s mugshot from a DUI arrest that occurred in 2021. When Neal was pressured to tug out of their combat, Machado Garry declared victory, touting his psychological warfare as the rationale the matchup didn’t occur.
Neal vehemently disagrees and he’s comfortable to show that after re-booking the combat with Machado Garry for UFC 299 in March.
“I figured we might run it again after as a result of I bought sick and I couldn’t combat that final combat — properly, simply well being points — so I figured he would need to run it again,” Neal mentioned Monday on The MMA Hour. “However then he was speaking s***, ‘Effectively, I already beat him, so I don’t must combat him.’ Bizarre s***. I’m glad we bought an opportunity to run it again now.
“It was troublesome, particularly after all of the s*** he was speaking and all of the stuff occurring. Pulling out of the combat, it simply appears dangerous.”
Whereas Neal stays adamant that the mugshot t-shirt by no means actually bought below his pores and skin, he nonetheless admonished Machado Garry for taking a decidedly low blow, particularly after displaying him respect behind closed doorways.
“It wasn’t that dangerous, actually, to me,” Neal mentioned. “It was in poor style. It was some low-class s***. Earlier than I [was scheduled to fight him], I accepted the combat and he messaged me on Instagram speaking about, ‘Hey man, better of luck on the combat and thanks for accepting the combat,’ and all that, after which every week later he posts the mugshot tee of me. So it’s sort of bizarre, however you get what you get.
“It was simply low class. I’m not too bent out of form about it. I’m simply going to punch him within the face once I see him. We’ve bought a date, and March 7, I’m going to beat him up.”
After all, Machado Garry had a style of his personal drugs this previous week when he was pressured to drop off UFC 296 after contracting pneumonia, which adopted a really nasty back-and-forth with middleweight champion Sean Strickland that additionally turned fairly private.
Whereas Neal doesn’t encourage anybody to harass Machado Garry, he additionally understands via private expertise that you just reap what you sow.
“It’s sort of like poetic justice,” Neal mentioned. “As a result of he likes to return at different fighters.”
Total, Neal doesn’t actually benefit from the path that the game has taken lately, the place trash discuss has turned so private. Simply this previous weekend, welterweight contender Colby Covington made an abhorrent comment about Leon Edwards’ father, who was murdered when the long run UFC champion was solely 13 years outdated.
He’d desire to only depart it as much as the competitors within the cage, however Neal has by no means had a lot curiosity in tearing down his opponents in a confrontation.
“I don’t prefer it personally however that’s simply me,” Neal mentioned. “I simply need to combat. I like doing violent s***. I’m a violent individual. I focus on violence. That’s all I do.
“The s*** speaking aspect of it, that’s not me. I simply need to get within the cage and beat any individual up. Mentioning the non-public stuff, it’s attending to the purpose the place it’s getting a little bit too far, but it surely’s the combat sport like Dana [White] mentioned. If I don’t prefer it, I can discover one other job, so I’m simply going to must take care of it.”
With regards to his subsequent combat, Neal sounds prepared to check himself in opposition to any individual like Machado Garry, who has drawn numerous consideration with an ideal 13-0 document highlighted by six straight wins within the UFC.
Regardless of every part that’s been mentioned, Neal nonetheless considers Machado Garry a reputable contender at welterweight, however he’s additionally anxiously awaiting the prospect to settle their variations within the octagon.
“He deserves [the hype],” Neal mentioned. “However he additionally deserves an ass whooping, so I’m going to provide that to him.”
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