Neil Magny is not someone you hear much from before or after a fight. He prefers to let his actions speak for him during the fight. Magny’s approach to the sport may not have earned him a status as one of the more popular athletes in the sport, but it has led him to where he is now, #8 in the welterweight rankings.
“At the end of the day, I’m one of the guys who is least outspoken when it comes to fighting,” Magny told MMAWeekly. “I’ve never been the guy to be out there being all boastful and saying what I deserve or don’t deserve. I’m the kind of guy who keeps his nose down and just works his butt off. It has a tendency, not necessarily work against me cause I’m top 10 in my division right now and regardless of whether anyone appreciates that or accepts that, it’s a fact that no one can take away from me unless you want to fight me for it.
“So I don’t think I’m being overlooked in that sense but at the end of the day, I think the thing that distinguishes me from other fighters is that I’m not willing to be as vocal as they are. That just comes from how I grew up and how I trained in my career early on.”
When guys are climbing up on top of the cage and going crazy to celebrate a win, it’s like did you not expect to win? Why are you so excited?” Magny stated. “You put the work in, you should expect to win. Why are you acting surprised about it?
“I go in there, I work for it and I expect the outcome when I go in there to fight.”
This humble disposition will come in handy when Neil Magny faces Santiago Ponzinibbio in Argentina this Saturday at UFC Fight Night 140, as he will look to continue to leave the partisan arena the way he came in: respected, something he has managed to do throughout his career:
“I think what’s helped me do that is I don’t come across as the douche in the sport,” Magny said. “There’s a lot of guys like Matt Brown or Colby Covington who tend to go into foreign territory and let their presence be known in a negative way. Matt Brown flipping off the Brazilian crowd and then you have Colby Covington with his whole filthy animal comment down in Brazil. I don’t come across as that guy.
“Whatever state, city or country I go to, the fans can expect me to go in there be super respectful, work my butt off and give them a show.”
What are your thoughts on Neil Magny’s comments?
