Outside Source
Geoff Neal expects a one-round fight at UFC 319. | đ·: Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC/Getty
Geoff Neal doesnât see his fight against Carlos Prates going past the first round.
Neal (16-6) will face a surging Prates (21-7) at UFC 319 on Aug. 16 at United Center in Chicago. With a combined total of 26 knockouts between them, Neal believes the fight will end in the opening stanza. Although Neal is prepared for a 15-minute fight, âHandz of Steelâ is essentially training for a one-rounder. Neal believes he wonât knock out Prates immediately, but wear him down and score a finish in the latter half of the first frame.
âWhoever can keep from getting hit is going to win,â Neal told Home of Fight. âI really think itâs going to be a one round fight. Thatâs my goal. Granted, Iâm training for three rounds but Iâm really training for a one round fight. There is no reason this fight should go past round one⊠I see me knocking him out in the first round. Probably not going to happen in the beginning, but itâs going to be probably in the last couple of minutes, maybe 3 minutes [mark]. Thatâs the goal, get in there, wear him out, put volume on him and put him down.â
Considered a gatekeeper of the welterweight division, Neal has faced a whoâs who of the weight class since his debut in 2018. Neal is coming off an injury stoppage loss against Rafael dos Anjos that saw him rebound from consecutive losses against elite contenders Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Garry. Meanwhile, Prates paid more than his share of dues on the regional circuit before making his UFC debut last year. The Fighting Nerds representative scored four finishes in nine months before ending up on the short side of a unanimous decision against Garry earlier this year.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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