Geoff Neal releases statement following loss to Stephen Thompson at UFC Vegas 17

Geoff Neal has released a statement after having his seven-fight win streak snapped by Stephen Thompson at tonight’s UFC Vegas 17 event.

Neal (13-3 MMA) was returning to the Octagon for the first time in over a year for tonight’s scrap with ‘Wonderboy’. The Texas native had most previously competed at UFC 245 in December of 2019, where he scored a first round TKO victory over Mike Perry.

Meanwhile, Stephen Thompson (16-4-1 MMA) had entered tonight’s event headliner with Geoff Neal looking to build off his impressive victory over Vicente Luque. That victory had snapped a two-fight losing skid for the former title challenger, as Thompson had suffered previous setbacks to Darren Till and Anthony Pettis.

While Geoff Neal was confident that he could solve the riddle to Stephen Thompson’s striking, that did not prove to be the case. ‘Wonderboy’ was able to get the better of ‘Handz of Steel’ for all five rounds on route to a dominant unanimous decision victory.

Shortly following the conclusion of tonight’s UFC Vegas 17 event, Geoff Neal took to Instagram where he issued the following lengthy statement on his loss to Thompson.

“I want to take the time to thank all my supporters and friends. I haven’t replied to everyone but just know I love y’all! Not the outcome I wanted but I had fun nonetheless. Some much adversity dealing leading up to this fight.. sepsis, congestive heart failure, 3 of my corners testing positive for covid, with one of them being the general @sayifsaud, but I still made that walk and fought that fight.”

Geoff Neal continued:

“Couldn’t see out of my right eye for 4 rounds and still managed to hang in there with a guy whose been kicking ass since I was like 9yrs old lol. I don’t know about y’all but I’m proud of me! Shoutout to my teammates and coaches who did everything to get me ready for this moment. And big shout out to Stephen Thompson. True definition of a martial artist. Never stop being you my man. And tell your pops I said thanks for the water.”

Who would you like to see Geoff Neal fight next following tonight’s setback to Stephen Thompson at UFC Vegas 17? Share your thoughts in the comments section PENN Nation!

December 19, 2020