UFC welterweight Geoff Neal has opened up about his struggles to overcome addiction.
Neal (16-7 MMA, 8-5 UFC) says he was in a dark place as drugs and alcohol took control of his life while still maintaining a spot in the UFC’s rankings at 170 pounds. According to “Handz of Steel,” it all started five years ago, around the time when he was admitted to the ICU for sepsis.
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In order to get through it, Neal says he has recently completed a mix of the “75 Hard” and “75 Soft” wellness challenge, which is a program intended to help improve physical and mental health. The 75-day challenge includes a strict diet with no cheat meals, regular exercise, no alcohol, and more.
“I got done with probably like two, two and a half weeks ago,” Neal told Home of Fight. “But I had a real issue for like five years, man. Like right around COVID, like right when I got sepsis, I fell in the hole. This is my first time even opening up about it, so it’s kind of weird. I had a problem with addiction, you know what I mean? Drugs and alcohol. It was rough. It was five years of it.
“Within that five years, I don’t think I was – like the longest I was sober within that five years was like two weeks, and those two weeks were usually before a fight. Like I’ll only slow down two weeks before the fight, and I’m coming to the fights underprepared, out of shape – it was rough, man. It’s crazy I stayed in the rankings the whole time. I don’t know. It was five years of just ups and downs, just constant, constant – man. F*ck.”
Neal was scheduled to face Neil Magny in August 2020, but withdrew due to sepsis. A few months later, he was back in the gym and competed in December against former title challenger Stephen Thompson, losing by decision. The fight against Magny came next, which was also a decision loss, but then Neal got back on track with a pair of wins over Santiago Ponzinibbio and Vicente Luque.
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The rollercoaster of results continued, as he dropped his next two outings to Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry. An injury TKO win came next over former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anojs, but he couldn’t keep the momentum going after losing by knockout to Carlos Prates last August.
All the while, Neal was not at his best outside of fighting, until one day he recently decided to give the 75-day challenge a go, and he stuck with it.
“It really feels like those past five years, like I wasn’t living, you know?” Neal said. “Like, I was there, but I wasn’t present, you know? Now everything is like, I’m here, you know? People who have went through addition, that go through addiction, they know what I’m talking about. It’s like now, I’m actually living life.
“… It was a rough five years, but I’m past it, hopefully. It’s to the point like whenever I see liquor, I get sick to my stomach.I don’t think I’ll ever drink again. Like ’75 Hard,’ after my fight, I’m not gonna pick up a bottle again. I think it’s for the best for my family, for my kids, for my wife. For my career. I feel like I got a second chance. I don’t want to waste it. I feel like I should have already been champ. I was riding a five-fight win streak after I beat Mike Perry, and then sh*t just went downhill.”
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During his time outside of fight camp, Neal works as a server. However, he has said he won’t work at Moxie’s anymore, a bar and grill in the Dallas area that focuses more on alcohol and a party atmosphere. Instead, he has returned to Texas Roadhouse, a family-friendly restaurant.
That decision is a part of removing himself from certain environments. Neal says he has cut off some friends and is locked in on his sobriety now. He doesn’t want to keep track of the total number of days because he intends to maintain his new lifestyle going forward.
Neal anticipates his career will be in a much better place now. He gets the opportunity to prove that inside the octagon when he meets Uros Medic at UFC Fight Night 267 on Feb. 21 in Houston.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC’s Geoff Neal reveals 5-year addiction battle: ‘It was rough, man’
