UFC welterweight standout Uros Medic revealed why he accepted a tough matchup against veteran Geoff Neal despite dealing with serious breathing issues.
Uros Medic entered the co‑main event at UFC Houston on February 21, 2026 with a lot on the line. Only a few days before fight week he was scheduled for sinus surgery to address a severely deviated septum that made it difficult to breathe but when the UFC offered him the opportunity to face Neal, he made a bold choice.
“When they called me and asked if I was healthy, I was three days away from sinus surgery,” Medic told MMA Fighting. “I said I’m healthy, let’s go. I called the doctor’s office and said I cannot do this sinus surgery. We’re going to have to reschedule. I take that fight, I have such a hard time breathing. It got better because I got some stuff to wash it and to calm down the inflammation inside. Because from all the punching and the deviated septum, all the years of not breathing well, it kind of adds up to not being able to breath at all. Some nights I couldn’t sleep.
“I’m like this is the time to risk it. These are the good old days. This is what I’m going to be remembered for and I have to make this work. F*ck the fact that I cannot breathe. I’m going to make it work.” His faith in taking the bout was rewarded in stunning fashion. Medic needed just 79 seconds to finish Neal with a perfectly timed left hook that sent Neal to the canvas and ended the fight in the first round. The emphatic knockout not only boosted Medic’s profile but also earned him a Performance of the Night bonus and a leap up the welterweight rankings.
While it was definitely a risk, Medic says these days he’s much more focused on entertaining fights and maintaining his 100 percent finishing rate than being worried about wins or losses.
“I take that fight, I take whatever five or six weeks to get ready. I did my best,” Medic said. “The biggest thing I have is belief in myself and I know how powerful I am. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to give the crowd what they want to see, regardless of the outcome. I’m going to focus only on performance. Outcome doesn’t matter.
“I could win and still have that stolen away from me by the referee. I cannot tie myself to an outcome. I’m just going to focus on a good performance and little do you know, I knock him out cold in one minute. I’m super thankful for all the opportunities and how everything played out.”
“I told him in the back after the fight, I’m sorry that had to happen to him in front of his home crowd and someday I’m going to go fight in front of my home crowd and I know it must be tough,” Medic said. “I found myself in his shoes a year ago, not in a home crowd, but I was laid out on the canvas by a different fighter. That’s just the nature of the beast and he said ‘it’s all good’ and he didn’t mind it. “That’s just how it is. I know how dangerous he is but I was just so prepared and so fast and I believe in myself and I belong in the top 15.”
“I mean [Leon Edwards] just came to mind but I’ll fight anybody,” Medic said. “It came to mind because I think it would make an entertaining fight. You could put anybody in front of me but there’s guys who are just going to try to hug and run around for 15 minutes and nobody wants to watch that.
“Come on guys. If I have to teach them out to fight, I’ll teach them out to fight. I’ll be reminding them every fight and every post-fight interview, this is how you f*cking fight. You show up and you f*cking fight. Because that’s what you’re paid to do and what you got signed to do. Not to run around and try to score points. That’s nonsense to me.”
“I know I’m going to have to chase Ian Garry around the octagon,” Medic said. “That’s going to be annoying but I’d love to fight him as well. Who else crossed my mind? I know Carlos Prates would be an amazing fight. That for sure would be a banger. That wouldn’t go the distance, I’ll tell you that for sure.”
By knocking out a ranked veteran like Neal so quickly, Medic made a statement that he belongs among the top fighters in the division. Despite the breathing issues and the risk involved in taking the fight while still coping with a physical problem, he said the decision reinforced his belief that fighters should seek exciting, high‑stakes matchups rather than play it safe.
The victory keeps Medic’s momentum rolling, it was his third straight first‑round finish and added another highlight moment to a welterweight division hungry for contenders. With the win, he’s now spoken about targeting bigger names and climbing even higher, including throwing out challenges to established fighters above him in the rankings.
