Ian Garry will face Geoff Neal at UFC 299 on March 9, 2024. UFC CEO Dana White announced the matchup as part of the UFC 296 post-fight press conference.
Garry was initially slated to fight #9 ranked Vicente Luque on the main card of UFC 296, but a bout of pneumonia forced him from the event. “The Future” now fights up in the rankings against #8 Neal, a fighter in which Garry has had an intense past.
Neal and Garry were scheduled to fight one another at UFC 292 on August 19, prior to Neal’s withdrawal. As a replacement, Garry fought and defeated Neil Magny. During the buildup to Neal vs. Garry, “The Future” thoroughly disparaged his foe, going as far as to bring up his criminal history.
In a video posted to social media on July 9, Garry bought a custom T-shirt with Neal’s 2021 DUI mugshot printed on the front. Garry captioned the image “THE FUTURE” and even wore it during his appearance at UFC 290.
During an interview with James Lynch on November 27, Neal admitted he wasn’t too annoyed with Garry’s antics, but called it “tasteless” nonetheless:
“He decided to go that route and, I don’t know f*** it — I wasn’t too pissed off about it, it was just annoying…” Neal explained. “People thought it was funny and I was like ‘You think that s***’s funny?’ There’s nothing funny about it like you put somebody’s mugshot on a shirt and that’s funny? That’s tasteless.”
Neal will now have the opportunity to avenge the pre-fight antics and to bolster his position in the welterweight top-10. Garry on the other hand has successfully leapfrogged Luque for a higher ranked opponent, and is another step closer to title contention with a victory.
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