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Trash talk is a delicate art. So much of what makes a moment of verbal sparring memorable isn’t so much about what a fighter says, but about how they say it.
Is “Who the f*** is that guy?” some all time great line? No. But the context and delivery made it an instant classic.
That said, there’s still a lot to like about a turn of phrase that feels simple and natural and not at all forced. Some fighters come by their gift of gab naturally, others have to put the work in to make it happen.
UFC WW Ian Machado Garry wants to make Geoff Neal ‘quit’ like a ‘s**tting’ dog
Ian Machado Garry has turned himself into one of the fastest rising talents in the UFC welterweight division. With a bright and shiny 13-0 unbeaten record, the ‘Future’ is knocking on the door of contender status. Along the way, however, he’s also made a habit of verbal sparring with his Octagon opponents. Notably lambasting Neil Magny for Magny’s suggestion that he’d whoop Garry like he whoops his kids.
Back in 2023, Garry was booked to take on Geoff Neal. Ahead of that fight, Garry had t-shirts printed up featuring Neal’s mugshot for a 2021 drunk driving arrest. The bout ended up getting cancelled due to injury, but has been re-booked for this coming March at UFC 298. With the fight once again in his sights, the Irishman has returned to needling his opposition.
“What am I going to finish him with? I am going to make him quit,” Garry announced in a video uploaded to his social media accounts (transcript via MMA Junkie). “He’ll choose when he’s done. I’d like to kick him to the body and have him do that, when the dog’s s**tting—the look when the dogs look at you, like, when they’re pooing, for protection. That’s what they do, right? Look at their owners when they’re pooing because that’s when they’re vulnerable for attack?”
Don’t expect Geoff Neal to get into the trash talk battle
With Ian Machado Garry having already re-opened hostilities it seems only fair that fans would expect Geoff Neal to get in on the action. After all, fighters have their pride. In a recent interview, however, ‘Handz of Steel’ made it clear that he’s going to try and be the bigger man. After all, as far as he’s concerned, Garry has already received enough backlash from fans for his past comments, that he doesn’t really need to step in and say anything.
“I’m not gonna engage in too much trash talk,” Neal told longtime MMA reporter James Lynch back in January. “I’ve never been that type of person. But, it’s entertaining, you know what I mean? Him talking shit. The fans got my back on this one. I don’t gotta say s**t anymore.”
As for his own prediction on how the fight is going to go? Neal says he feels “like I’m going to take [Garry] out in the second round. Maybe early in the third round.”
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