Geoff Neal Opens Up on Addiction Issues: 'It Was Rough'

""But I had a real issue for five years, around COVID, when I got sepsis, I fell into a hole... I had a problem with addiction, drugs and alcohol, it was rough, five years of it. The longest I was sober within those five years was two weeks, and those weeks were usually before fights. I'd slow down two weeks before the fight, come to the fight underprepared, out of shape; it was rough. It's crazy I stayed in the rankings the whole time.""

"Neal (16-7) is 1-3 in his last four outings, with the win coming from a knee injury to his opponent. However, the perennially ranked welterweight has only lost to elite opposition in Shavkat Rakhmonov, Ian Garry, and, most recently, Carlos Prates. Neal is now scheduled to face Uros Medic at UFC Houston on Feb 21. Medic (12-3) is coming off back-to-back first-round knockout wins and has never seen the judges' scorecards in his career."

Geoff Neal experienced severe alcohol and drug addiction beginning around 2020 after going into septic shock during COVID. He endured five years of substance abuse, during which his longest stretches of sobriety rarely exceeded two weeks and often occurred only immediately before fights. Neal frequently entered bouts underprepared and out of shape, yet he managed to retain a place in the UFC welterweight rankings. His professional record stands at 16-7, and he has gone 1-3 in his last four outings, with those losses coming against elite opponents. Neal recently achieved 75 days of sobriety and is scheduled to face Uros Medic on Feb 21.

Read at Sherdog