Geoff Neal is leaning on a little extra motivation for his upcoming matchup with undefeated welterweight contender Ian Garry tomorrow night (Sat., Feb. 17, 2024) at UFC 298 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and he owes it all to a mugshot t-shirt.
If you remember, Neal and Garry were scheduled to fight last August at UFC 292 in Boston. However, Neal needed to withdraw for undisclosed health reasons and was replaced by veteran fighter Neil Magny. Garry ended up wiping the floor with Magny to push his UFC record to 6-0 and setup his re-booked matchup with Neal this weekend at UFC 298.
Prior to Neal’s withdrawal from UFC 292, the bad blood between the two fighters started to boil. Eventually, Garry pulled a dirty trick out of his hat and created a t-shirt with Neal’s mugshot on it. Some thought Garry may have crossed the line by doing this and even Neal took exception to it. For context, Neal was arrested in 2021 on charges of driving while intoxicated (DWI) and carrying an unlicensed weapon. It’s a touchy subject to say the least.
Now that the two welterweights are once again scheduled to settle their beef inside of the Octagon they came together for an intense faceoff during UFC 298’s pre-fight press conference on Thursday (replay HERE). That’s when Neal thanked Garry for his mugshot prank because it offered extra motivation for their matchup.
Check out the press conference staredown below courtesy of UFC CEO Dana White:
“Thank you for making that [mugshot] shirt bro. It motivated me”
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 298 fight card right RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6:30 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 298: “Volkanovski vs. Topuria” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated and finalized UFC 298 fight card and ESPN+ lineup click here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
