Geoff Neal TKO’d Rafael dos Anjos in his last fight and has since been linked with a potential fight against Carlos Prates, but he’s indicated that he’d much rather go up against Gilbert Burns instead.
“(Prates) doesn’t interest me just because I want to fight up in the rankings,” Neal said in an interview with Middle Easy. “But the way things are looking and how the division’s looking, the only person that would make sense to fight ahead of me in the rankings is probably Gilbert (Burns).
“I don’t see anybody else wanting to fight me or they’re just kind of like, ‘I just won my last fight,’ and my last fight was against somebody who isn’t even ranked in our division. So, it’s a tough one, but Gilbert is like my ideal fight that I want to get, but if push comes to shove, I’ll fight Carlos too. April, I want to fight either one of those dudes.”
Unfortunately for Neal, Burns is scheduled to fight Michael Morales at UFC 314 on April 12th, so it looks like he may well be on course for a clash with Prates instead, who has taken the No.13 spot on the welterweight rankings after winning all four of his UFC fights so far by KO.