Geoff Neal is confident he’ll make quick work of Carlos Prates when they meet in their rebooked welterweight clash at UFC 319.
Originally scheduled to fight earlier, “Handz of Steel” was pulled from their first booking. Now, with the matchup back on, Neal is looking to defend his top-10 ranking against the No. 12-ranked Brazilian, while giving fans a short slugfest.
“Whoever can keep from getting hit is going to win,” Neal told 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.”
A knockout artist with 16 of his professional wins coming by way of KO, Neal is determined to keep the judges out of the equation. His record shows he’s 4-3 when fights go to a decision, and that’s not a risk he’s willing to take this weekend.
“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.”
Prates, nicknamed “The Nightmare,” is also a proven finisher with 16 knockouts in 21 career wins. Known for his aggressive Muay Thai style, he stopped four UFC opponents in 2024 alone. However, his winning streak was snapped earlier this year when Ian Machado Garry defeated him by unanimous decision. Now, he’s looking to bounce back and climb higher in the rankings.
While many see Prates as the betting favorite, top contender Sean Brady is siding with Neal to hand the Brazilian his first KO loss in the UFC.
“This is my, I think Geoff Neal is my lock,” Brady said on the Brady Bagz Show. “I think he’s gonna knock out Carlos Prates. Geoff hits super hard. Carlos doesn’t wrestle to try to negate any of that. And he plays that Muay Thai style where it’s like tit for tat. You can’t do that with Geoff Neal. He hits way too hard.”
Brady believes the southpaw-versus-southpaw dynamic will be interesting, but if Prates allows Neal to dictate the pace, the fight could end violently and fast.
