Ian Garry vs Geoff Neal added to UFC 292
UFC 292 has quickly become one of the most highly anticipated events of the year, and it’s easy to see why with all of these stellar match ups that’ve been added to the lineup.
Firstly we have two title bouts going down at this event between UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley, as well as UFC strawweight champion Weili Zhang versus Amanda Lemos.
We’ve got the return of two former bantamweight champions, where Henry Cejudo faces Marlon Vera and Cody Garbrandt faces Mario Bautista, as well as another bantamweight contenders clash between Rob Font and Song Yadong.
We’ve also got the return of former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, who makes his first octagon appearance in over two years to face Brad Tavares.
Another very exciting clash that’s just recently been added to the lineup comes in the welterweight division between no. 8 ranked Geoff Neal and no. 13 ranked Ian Garry.
Geoff Neal came to the UFC in February of 2018 with a record of 8-2, and quickly went 5-0 in the promotion with a notable win over current no. 3 ranked Belal Muhammad, who’s since gone unbeaten in his last 10 fights.
Neal finished up this streak with a TKO (head kick & punches) victory over Mike Perry, dispatching of him in just 90 seconds.
Neal would then lose back-to-back outings to former two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson (UD), and then the winningest fighter in welterweight history Neil Magny (UD), before winning his next two over the likes of Santiago Ponzinbbio (SD) and Vicente Luque (KO).
This led up to his fight with the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, who submitted (rear naked choke) Neal in the final minute of their contest back in March. But hey, Rakhmonov is a 17-0 former M-1 Challenge champion with a 100% finish rate. No shame in losing to him.
Then we have Ian Garry, who following the claim of his Cage Warriors welterweight title in June of 2021, would soon thereafter make his way over to the UFC, where he, like Neal, would win his first five fights with the promotion (this will be his sixth).
This streak showed Garry victorious over the likes of Jordan Williams (UD), Darian Weeks (UD), Gabe Green (UD), Song Kenan (TKO), and most recently Daniel Rodriguez (TKO), improving his record to a perfect 12-0 in the process.
One interesting fact going into this fight:
Neal is the only man to ever stop iron chins Mike Perry or Vicente Luque with strikes, and Garry is the only man to ever stop Daniel Rodriguez, another true iron chin, with strikes. This is going to be a good one!
Who do you see coming out on top in this epic welterweight showcase going down at UFC 292?
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