In a fight that was supposed to happen six months ago in Boston, Ian Garry and Geoff Neal squared off at UFC 298.
Ian Garry vs. Geoff Neal Preview
Ian Garry has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons in the lead-up to this fight. Between his wife being thrown in the spotlight and under fire, questions about his life choices, and his comments on Ireland, Garry needs a big win to shut the doubters up. Neil Magny stepped in for Geoff Neal back in August, leading to a clinical performance by Ian Garry. A lot hangs on the line in this fight for Garry, with nearly all the pressure lying on him.
Geoff Neal has also made questionable decisions outside of the cage and looks to redeem them tonight. His last fight was nearly a year ago when he gave Shavkat Rakhmonov the toughest fight of his UFC career but succumbed to a choke late in Round 3. Neal also missed weight ahead of that fight but kept the hype he gained from his win over Vicente Luque. He looks to take the hype of the undefeated Ian Garry and get back on track with a big win.
Fight Recap
Both men came out comfortable standing at kickboxing range, trading kicks back and forth. Neal did a good job holding Garry against the fence, and when the two separated the fight continued at range. The first round finished with nearly identical numbers of significant strikes by both men.
The second round started similarly to the first, with Garry mixing his attacks up with knees and elbows. Lots of clinching occurred throughout the round but it seemed that Garry was getting the better of the kickboxing exchanges. Neal started to let his hands go late in the round and landed some nice combinations.
The third round was a big round for both men as neither guy took much of a lead in the previous rounds. Neal landed some nice straight right hands but Garry’s kicks and knees proved to be just as effective. With less than a minute left in the round, Neal started to stalk Garry around the cage while looking to land some power shots. He was mostly unsuccessful but a few snuck in. All three rounds of the fight were close with a winner being hard to predict after the final bell.
The scorecards read 30-27, 28-29, and 30-27 to give Ian Garry the win in a closely contested fight. The Irishman called out Colby Covington following the win.
UFC Fighters React to Ian Garry Edging Geoff Neal
Featured Image Credit to Embed from Getty Images
