UFC 319's Geoff Neal: Carlos Prates 'might be bullsh*tting' about strategy change
Saturday on the main card of UFC 319 (ESPN+ pay-per-view), Neal (16-6 MMA, 8-4 UFC) faces Carlos Prates in a key bout for the welterweight division. The matchup was initially set to take place in April at UFC 314, but Neal had to withdraw. Prates (21-7 MMA, 4-1 UFC) decided to face Ian Machado Garry two weeks later and suffered the first loss of his UFC run, ending an 11-fight winning streak.
Prates told reporters he learned a few things from that fight, and may change his approach this time around to implement some grappling. Neal isn't too concerned with how his opponent's strategy may change, and expects things to be settled on the feet.
"I'm ready for whatever," Neal told reporters at Wednesday's media day. "I don't expect him to try to grapple me. I feel like we're just gonna sit in the middle of the cage and just beat each other up."
It's that type of fight that has Neal believing he can end things quickly once the cage door shuts. In his last outing, Neal picked up an injury TKO victory over former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in the first round after heated striking exchanges.
Neal knows Prates is skilled, but he likes his chances of standing and trading with the best. He previously predicted a first-round ending and is sticking to it.
"He's a good fighter, he's a tough fighter – I'm not saying I'll finish him in the first round like he's a trash fighter," Neal said. "He's still a top-level, high-level fighter, but I feel like I got what it takes to take him out in the first round."
But what if Prates really does want to try to test Neal's grappling? It would be quite the change of pace for Prates, who finished all of his UFC wins before reaching the third round. A more strategic approach is certainly possible after suffering his first loss in the UFC, as Prates said he wants to find a way to win without worrying about a finish. However, Neal isn't discounting the possibility that his opponent could be playing mind games, too.
"I guess I'm gonna practice some get-ups tonight," Neal said. "I don't know what (just searching for the win) means. I guess I need to work on some jitz tonight just in case he tries to take me down. ... He might be bullsh*tting. Might be trying to get me worried about takedowns to get my hands to stay low so he can throw something over the top. I don't know what to expect. I'm just gonna be ready for anything."
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USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
MLB geographic realignment rumors: Everything we know so far
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I think if we expand, it provides us with an opportunity to geographically re-align. I think it would save a lot of wear and tear on our players in terms of travel and I think our postseason format would be even more appealing for entities like ESPN because you'd be playing out of the East, out of the West and that 10 o'clock time slot where we sometimes get Boston-Anaheim would be two West Coast teams. That 10 o'clock slot that's a problem for us sometimes becomes a real opportunity for our West Coast audience." Manfred added owners realize there is a "demand" for Major League Baseball in a lot of great cities and there is an opportunity to do something good around the expansion process. This is not the first time that Manfred has made this argument, though. He said something similar to Ken Rosenthal in 2018 as well (via The Athletic): "The reality of today's media environment is that if you went to 32 teams and you could get to a more geographically-based alignment, you could help your playoff format, you could reduce your travel, you could more easily discuss things like a split season." Manfred hedged at the time by saying that he isn't necessarily in favor of this, but outlined the possibility. When would this actually happen? Based on the comments above, it seems that Manfred wouldn't begin divisional realignment until expansion teams started playing. So reverse engineering from that clue, we can determine the following general timeline (via The Athletic): The commissioner wants to have two new teams' locations picked out by the time he retires in 2029, although the clubs won't yet be playing. But Manfred has long pegged league expansion to the Rays and the Athletics completing their long-running quests for new stadiums. The A's, who are moving to Sacramento, Calif., for at least three seasons starting in 2025, are '100 percent full steam ahead' with their planned subsequent move to Las Vegas for 2028. So we won't anticipate realignment until multiple conditions are met. One is that the Athletics and Rays both need new stadiums, which has a deadline of 2029 (when Manfred's five-year term as MLB commissioner is over) at the latest. The other is that expansion teams will start playing, will come some time after 2029. In other words, this isn't happening any time particularly soon. How would this change the divisions? There are a few points to consider here, but the first is that according to Manfred, we can expect four teams per division instead of five (via Sports Business Journal): "There are also advantages in going from 30 to 32 in terms of schedule and format,' Manfred said on the Questions For Cancer Research podcast. 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USA Today
27 minutes ago
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