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Geoff Neal missed weight leading up to his bout vs Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 285, but still received a fight of the night bonus, to the tune of $50,000. Although Neal was fined 30% of his purse for missing weight, he was awarded the bonus by Dana White himself.
Generally, fighters are not eligible for bonuses in instances where they miss weight. Neal, who missed weight by four pounds, however, put up a spirited fight against the surging Rakhmonov and impressed UFC boss Dana White.
White, when asked about the bonus, said:
“After that fight, I was like, ‘I don’t give a shit if he made weight or not, man. We’re paying that dude 50 grand. That was incredible, both guys had incredible heart, and you just couldn’t watch a better fight than that. It was awesome, and I love that shit."
Watch the rest of Dana White's post UFC 285 interview here:
Neal and Rakhmonov went at it in a back-and-forth war of 3 rounds. Rakhmonov, however, secured the finish late into the third via a standing rear-naked choke. Until then, Neal gave Rakhmonov the toughest test of his career and pushed the Uzbekistan native to the limit.
Geoff Neal was defeated by Shavat Rakhmonov at UFC 285
When fighters miss weight or have a complicated weight cut, the general consensus is that they may be compromised. In Geoff Neal's case, however, that wasn't true.
At UFC 285, Geoff Neal looked sharp in his boxing and displayed a stellar takedown defense against Rakhmonov, a very well-rounded fighter. Neal stuffed many takedowns and landed some impressive combinations on Rakhmonov, staggering him and hurting him through the course of the fight.
In the third-round, Rakhmonov won an exchange and secured the clinch, after which he was able to convert the position into a standing rear-naked choke. Neal, despite his brave performance, tapped out.
In his post-fight interview, Rakhmonov called out welterweight contender, Colby Covington. As an undefeated fighter, a potential showdown with Covington is bound to excite fans. It remains to be seen what Geoff Neal's next move will be, but given his performance, good things appear to be on the horizon.
Watch Shavkat Rakhmonov's post-fight interview here:
