Geoff
Neal needed a little extra motivation heading into the third
round of a closely-contested welterweight clash with Santiago
Ponzinibbio at UFC
269.
Enter Fortis MMA head coach Sayif Saud,
who delivered a fiery pep talk that propelled Neal into his best
round of that fight. “Handz of Steel” outlanded his opponent 46 to
39 in significant strikes over a definitive final stanza, helping
seal a split-decision triumph.
“It jarred me a lot. He was being truthful,” Neal said of the
corner talk during a post-fight interview. “I needed that round.
Just in case a judge wanted to pull split-decision bulls—t, I had
to take that round.”
And what exactly was the game plan heading into Round 3?
“Just go forward and punch him in the face,” Neal said. “I wasn’t
punching him in the face enough in the first two rounds, so I just
had to punch him more in the third round.”
It turns out Neal’s intuition was correct. When the final verdict
was announced, the Texan emerged with a narrow split-decision
victory. Without that final push, the outcome might have been
different.
“I thought I had done enough. I was kind of confused on the split
decision,” Neal said. “I thought I won three rounds, maybe the
first round could have swung either way. Maybe that takedown might
have had (an impact), but it was insignificant — I got right up. I
felt like I won all three rounds.”
Forward pressure helped Neal turn the tide in a competitive bout.
When the Fortis MMA product allowed Ponzinibbio to dictate the
terms of engagement, the American Top Team-trained Argentinian
chipped away with leg kicks and one-two combinations. When Neal
pushed the pace, that offense wasn’t as available for
Ponzinibbio.
“Whenever I felt like he was getting an advantage kicking my leg, I
just stepped forward, got closer and made him back up a little
bit,” Neal said. “It was when I was waiting in front of him or
backing up he was kicking my leg. So I just had to put the pressure
back on him so he could stop.”
The victory was essential for Neal, who entered UFC 269 on a
two-bout skid after winning his first five outings within the Las
Vegas-based promotion.
“It means a lot, but it means nothing at the same time because I’m
still not where I want to be,” Neal said. “Yeah, I won, but I need
like five more before I get the belt, so let’s get to it.”
Neal already has a date and venue in mind for his next Octagon
appearance.
“Honestly I want to get on that Houston card (UFC 271) in
February,” he said. “I don’t know about an opponent yet, but if
there’s somebody willing and down, I’m down for it too. Let’s
go.”