Don’t blink when Geoff Neal and Carlos Prates throw down at UFC 319.
Neal (16-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) and Prates (21-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) square off in a three-round welterweight matchup on Aug. 16 at United Center in Chicago (ESPN+, ESPN, pay-per-view).
With both fighters boasting a high knockout percentage, “Handz of Steel” is predicting a quick finish of Prates.
“Whoever can keep from getting hit is going to win,” Neal said in an interview with Home of Fight. “I really feel like it’s going to be a one-round fight. That’s my goal. Granted, I’m training for three rounds, but I’m really training for a one-round fight. There is no reason this fight should go past Round 1.”
The pair were scheduled to fight at UFC 314 in April, but the bout was scrapped when Neal withdrew for undisclosed reasons. Prates ended up competing two weeks later in the UFC on ESPN 66 headliner against Ian Machado Garry, but suffered his first octagon loss.
Neal plans on putting the pressure on Prates right off the bat.
“I see me knocking him out in the first round,” Neal said. “(It’s) probably not going to happen in the beginning, but it’s going to be probably in the last couple of minutes, maybe three minutes. That’s the goal: Get in there, wear him out, put volume on him and then put him down.”
