Neil Magny is back in the win column.
The welterweight bounced back from a loss to Michael Chiesa in January by outpointing Geoff Neal for a unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 24 on Saturday. Magny (25-8 MMA, 18-7 UFC) defeated Neal (13-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) with a pair of 29-28 scores and a 30-27.
The welterweight bout was part of the UFC on ESPN 24 main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN following prelims on ESPN+.
Magny simply outlasted and outworked the tough Neal over the course of 15 minutes.
The first round of the fight didn’t have as much striking as many expected. Magny got busy early with solid combinations, but Neal chose to clinch Magny against the cage. They occasionally broke away from the clinch and both fighters landed shots – only to wind up right back in the clinch. Magny landed several shots and had the volume in his favor, but Neal had the harder shots and pressed the action in the clinch.
In the second, the striking opened up. Neal chased Magny down looking for power shots, while Magny stayed on the outside picking his shots. Halfway through the round, Neal began to incorporate the clinch once again, but Magny was able to defend well and at times dominated the action there. Neither connected flush or caused significant damage, but it was clear Magny had volume on his side.
In the final round, Magny entered a groove. He kept the distance on Neal and avoided any clinching while using a high volume of straight punches to connect. Neal worked to close the distance, but Magny’s range gave him plenty of issues. Magny even briefly took Neal down in a clean round for the “TUF 16” veteran.
With the victory, Magny now has 25 professional victories on his record and is second in UFC welterweight victories only to longtime former champ Georges St-Pierre. Neal finds himself on a two-fight skid having lost to Stephen Thompson in his previous outing in December.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 24 results include:
- Neil Magny def. Geoff Neal via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Marcos Rogerio de Lima def. Maurice Greene via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Gregor Gillespie def. Diego Ferreira via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 4:51
- Phil Hawes def. Kyle Daukaus via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-27)
- Mike Trizano def. Ludovit Klein via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Jun Yong Park def. Tafon Nchukwi via majority decision (30-25, 29-26, 28-28)
- Carlston Harris def. Christian Aguilera via technical submission (anaconda choke) – Round 1, 2:52
