Geoff Neal eyeing first or second round KO over Neil Magny to get top-ranked opponent next

Geoff Neal is excited he finally gets the chance to face Neil Magny.

Last August, Neal and Magny were scheduled to fight but Neal had serious health problems that hospitalized him and forced him out of the scrap. The two then got different fights and Neal ended up losing a decision to Stephen Thompson back in December, which he says was a good learning experience.

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“I learned a lot. He showed me a whole other level and keep going for five-round straight. I don’t think he slowed down at all,” Neal said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “I can’t tell you too much about that fight, I wasn’t all the way there mentally in the first place. But, I learned a lot seeing how he handled it. Even though he lost to Tyron Woodley, I basically fought a champion and I think he will get the belt soon.”

When Neal and Magny do end up fighting on Saturday, it will just be a three-round fight as the Fortis MMA fighter says he was never offered the main event spot. Regardless of being the main event or not, Neal knows this is a big fight for him. He says the key to winning is pressuring Magny, instead of letting his foe dictate the pace.

“Just keep my pace. I’ve had to find my pace and be able to keep it and not diminish my pace because I’m being pressured,” Neal explained. “I’m an aggressive fighter so I’ve been working on keeping that aggressiveness for the entire fight.”

Image Credit: UFC.com

Against Magny, Geoff Neal is confident he will be able to get inside and land some big punches. He expects it to be a kickboxing fight. The goal for the 10th-ranked welterweight is to starch Magny early and get the KO win in the first or second round.

“As far as his chin concern, anybody can get knocked out. You can have a great chin and get slept in the first 10 seconds of a fight. That doesn’t mean anything. Every time I fight, I go for the finish,” Neal said. “The first or second round ideally is when I try to get the job done, but if I don’t it will be a three-round grind and I’ll have to withstand his cardio. The goal is to knock him out in the first or second.”

If Neal does get a KO win over Magny, he knows it would be big for him. However, with the way the welterweight division is, he isn’t sure who and when he would fight next.

“No clue. If I just get a decision, I’ll just be nine. If I do something amazing and starch him in the first round, I’ll get a bigger fight. I’m looking to do that,” Neal concluded. “I don’t like decisions, decisions are boring, finishes are what get you the big-name fights and big money.”

Do you think Geoff Neal will beat Neil Magny?