It wasn’t an easy lead-up to
UFC Fight Night 183 for Geoff Neal,
and once he stepped in the cage, it didn’t get any better.
Neal suffered his first promotional defeat in Saturday’s headliner
at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, falling to former welterweight title
challenger Stephen
Thompson via unanimous decision. The Fortis MMA product was
hospitalized with heart trouble earlier this year, an issue that
forced him to withdraw from a proposed clash with Neil Magny on
Aug. 29. And on Saturday, “Handz of Steel” was without his usual
group of cornermen due to COVID-19. That included Fortis MMA head
Sayif
Saud.
“So much adversity dealing leading up to this fight,” Neal wrote on
Instagram. “Sepsis, congestive heart failure, three of my corners
testing positive for covid, with one of them being the General
Sayif
Saud, but I still made that walk and fought that fight.
“Couldn’t see out of my right eye for four rounds and still managed
to hang in there with a guy who’s been kicking ass since I was,
like, nine years old. I don’t know about y’all but I’m proud of
me!”
Neal and Thompson clashed heads very early in the fight, which
could have hindered the 30-year-old Texas resident’s vision from
that point forward. Despite all that adversity, Neal still paid
tribute to Thompson in defeat. Prior to Saturday night, Neal was
unbeaten in five UFC appearances, with four finishes to his
credit.
“Big shoutout to [Wonderboy],” Neal wrote. “True definition of a
martial artist. Never stop being you my man. And tell your pops I
said thanks for the water.
“P.S. This is not an excuse [Wonderboy] is good [as f—k].”