Geoff Neal explained why he will “probably” take some time away following his loss to Neil Magny, saying that “my body hasn’t been right.”
It wasn’t that long ago that Neal was someone who fans and analysts were pointing to as a potential future title contender at 170lbs, but he has really struggled in his last two fights, dropping decisions to Stephen Thompson and now Magny, who beat him on Saturday night at UFC Vegas 26. In addition to struggling inside the cage, Neal has also dealt with health issues outside of it. It has made the last year of his career extremely difficult from a personal point of view, and now from a professional point of view as well with the losses.
Taking to his social media following his loss to Magny, Neal said that he will probably be taking some time off from the sport in order to get his body back to a healthy state.
“Well there goes another one lol. Felt really good in the first round and the second one was close. Even in defeat I’m still proud of this one as well. It was another honor to step in there with another crafty veteran in @neil_magny170. I’m probably gonna take some time away and take care of my health a little bit. My body hasn’t been right since I got sepsis last year. I’ve been dealing with off and on sickness and severe lack of energy since then. I almost pulled out of this fight last week because I was vomiting/diarrhea for 3 days and after having to rehydrate and replenish what my body lost I found myself sitting at 208 pounds exactly 1 week before weigh ins. But I got issues, so I said fuck it and cut 37 pounds in a week anyway. Lol Probably a super dangerous/stupid decision, but nothing great ever gets done trying to play it safe,” Neal wrote. “Gonna go on my FIRST real vacation to Hawaii next week, come back, get some blood test done to figure out what’s going on with my body and I PROMISE you I will be back with a vengeance. Thanks to all my Coaches and teammates who helped my through this camp. And thanks again to @neil_magny170. That was a solid veteran performance”
What do you think Geoff Neal needs to do in order to turn his career back around?