Exclusive: "Just because he made a..." - Geoff Neal fires back at overconfident Ian Garry with t-shirt jibe
Geoff Neal recently fired back at Ian Garry after the confident welterweight wore a t-shirt that featured his mugshot in an attempt to play mind games ahead of their previously scheduled bout.
During an exclusive with Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch, the No.8 ranked UFC welterweight shared his thoughts on 'The Future's' attempt at mindgames and provided an update on when he will be ready to return to the octagon. He took a jibe at the Irishman and mentioned that a bout between them is inevitable.
He said:
"I really wanted that fight and I want to run it back, but I guess Ian Garry's not interested. For some reason he thinks he beat me because he made a shirt about me but I still want to get that fight back...It'll come back around, like, me and him are gonna have to fight. I think there's no other way around it. " [0:37 - 0:54]
'Handz of Steel' also brought up that he is doing great as it pertains to his health and expressed interest in competing in December. He mentioned that it might be difficult to get on a December event because of how deep the cards are, but would be willing to fight Ian Garry on short-notice should Vicente Luque be forced to pull out of the fight, saying:
"I don't want to fight on that card [UFC 296] and be on the prelims, you know what I mean?...Isn't Ian Garry fighting on that card too?...God forbid [Vicente] Luque has to pull out, like, I will be ready for that fight." [1:27 - 1:41]
Depending on what transpires at UFC 296, it will be interesting to see whether the UFC will make another attempt at booking Geoff Neal vs. Ian Garry.
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When did Geoff Neal last compete?
Geoff Neal has been out of action for quite some time as he recovers from health issues that forced him to withdraw from his bout with Ian Garry at UFC 292.
'Handz of Steel' last competed at UFC 285, where he fought surging welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. It was a very entertaining bout that saw 'Nomad' earn a third-round submission win to remain undefeated. Despite missing weight for the fight, the No.8 ranked welterweight still earned his share of the Fight of the Night bonus because UFC CEO Dana White was impressed with his performance.
