Stephen Thompson reacts after his victory over Geoff Neal in a welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on December 19, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Geoff Neal suffered a nasty cut above the eye and that injury affected his performance against Stephen Thompson
The final main event of the 2020 UFC calendar saw Geoff Neal take on Stephen Thompson.
This wasn’t the main event when UFC Vegas 17 was decided but Khamzat Chimaev vs Leon Edwards getting shifted was a boost for Thompson and Neal.
The pair put on quite a show as the fight went the distance but it was Wonderboy who got the win.
Neal was dominated throughout the five rounds but there was one nasty incident during the early rounds.
Wonderboy and Neal clashed heads in an accident and both were left with cuts near their eyes. Thompson’s was a little above his eyebrow but it was worse was Neal. It was just above his eye and blood was constantly causing problems for his vision.
Neal was also seen wiping the blood out several times and he provided an update on how this affected his fight.
“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!”
While the loss was a bit of a hit for the 30-year-old as he was on a seven-fight win streak prior to this, 2020 was tough on Neal.
He had to be admitted to hospital with congestive heart failure, dealt with sepsis and also saw several of his coaches test positive for Covid-19.
His Instagram post also saw Neal praise Wonderboy a lot, and Thompson had a similar story for Neal.
Thompson also added that Neal was a tough opponent and it was an “honour” to fight in the Octagon with him.
Thompson also believed Neal would go right to the top, and age is also on his side given that he is just 30.
Wonderboy has plans to win the title in 2021 and it will be interesting to see how things work out for him.
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