Colby Covington’s act has gone stale for Geoff Neal, who called the former interim welterweight champ an “unlikable person” following UFC 240.
Edmonton, AB — With a TKO of Niko Price at UFC 240 on Saturday night, Geoff Neal improved to 4-0 in the UFC since joining the promotion off Dana White’s Contender Series. He also earned his first Performance of the Night bonus in the process, much to the approval of the Edmonton crowd.
Following the fight, Neal fielded the usual questions from media outlets in attendance, which included Cageside Press. “Who’s next?” is always a popular one, and Neal kept things professional, and focused on the rankings. “I think I’m ready for a top fifteen opponent,” he said. “I don’t care who, just somebody.”
“No one stands out specifically,” he answered when asked if there was truly no one name that stood out.
Except. Every fighter no doubt has their dream fight, and asked about a “just for fun” scenario, Neal was willing to say one name: Covington.
“To enjoy it, maybe Colby Covington. But that’s about it. Nobody else,” Neal said. Asked to elaborate on his motivation for that match-up, he added simply “For obvious reasons. Everybody already knows he’s an unlikable person.” With MAGA hats and paid-for porn star friends, Covington rubs many fans, and fighters, the wrong way.
Neal and Covington are about as far apart on the welterweight spectrum as could be, mind you. Neal is unranked, Covington near the top of the weight class. Covington is set to compete in just under a week, against Robbie Lawler at UFC Newark, and the former interim champ likely has a shot at champ Kamaru Usman on the line.
But rivalries are sometimes years in the making, so perhaps Neal’s name drop will work out in the long term.
In the meantime, he can revel in the win over Price, which came in part thanks to a last minute change-up from his coach. “My coach actually called an audible on the bus on the way to the fight,” Neal revealed. “He’s like ‘hey you might have to take him down, finish the fight with ground n’ pound.’ That’s what we did, pulled out the win.”
As for an apparent head butt during the fight, Neal explained that “I looked at the video, I hit him with the left hand, and made his head collide with mine. That dropped us both.”
Watch the full UFC 240 post-fight press conference with Geoff Neal above.
