UFC: Neil Magny Wants To Test Himself Against The Best

Neil Magny is looking forward to making a quick return to the Octagon.

After beating Li Jingliang at UFC 248 in March, Magny is excited to step back in the cage and climb up the welterweight rankings, having won three of his last four bouts. Speaking to MMA Junkie, the 32 year old said he wants to test himself against the best in the division.

“Guys like Mike Chiesa definitely are on the radar,” Magny said. “But it’s one of those things in this sport where guys get ranked and all of a sudden they stop looking behind for competition and they just only have their eyes set on a number and that kinda thing. I can’t fault the guy, I was in the same boat before, where because I was ranked higher than a particular person, I thought that I should challenge myself against someone who’s ranked above or close to me. So I can’t actually fault someone for making that decision.

“But, at the end of the day, I’m just ready to get back in there and test myself against the best. So guys like Mike Chiesa, Geoff Neal, those are guys who are on my radar, and I’m looking forward to competing against [them] very soon here.”

Magny offered to step in and face Marvin Vettori in Florida earlier this month, after his opponent Karl Roberson, was hospitalised as a result of a bad weight cut, but the fight never happened.

Not deterred however with the fight falling through and the current coronavirus situation, Magny has been in constant contact with UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby, looking for an opponent.

“I think Sean Shelby is getting annoyed with me at this point,” Magny said. “I’m texting him and emailing him at least three, four times a week about getting in on one of these cards and making something happen. It’s unfortunate. Right now it’s just one of these situations where, because of how things are set up, the person you want to fight may not be comfortable or confident in taking a fight because their training situation is not ideal.

“I can completely understand where we are right now in the world with this whole COVID situation and why some people might be cautious about jumping into a training camp when there’s so much uncertainty moving forward.”

And the three or four texts to Shelby obviously worked. Since speaking to MMA Junkie, Magny is set to fight Anthony Rocco Martin at UFC 250, which is set to go down on June 6th and is expected to be held at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. 

How do you think Neil Magny vs Anthony Rocco Martin goes down at UFC 250?


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