UFC is reportedly aiming to book a fight between veteran welterweight Geoff Neal and rising contender Carlos Prates for their upcoming UFC 319 pay-per-view event.
Sources familiar with the situation have confirmed that both athletes have verbally agreed to the proposed bout, which is currently targeted for August 16th.
UFC 319 is scheduled to take place at the United Center in Chicago. The event is expected to be headlined by a middleweight championship defense featuring Dricus du Plessis against Khamzat Chimaev.
Prates (21-7) and Neal (16-6) were originally set to face each other in April, but Neal, known as “Handz of Steel,” was forced to pull out of UFC 314. Prates then fought in the main event of a subsequent card two weeks later, where he lost a decision to Ian Machado Garry.
That loss marked the end of Prates` impressive six-year undefeated run. Since joining the UFC a year prior, he had secured four consecutive knockout victories, including notable wins over Jingliang Li and Neil Magny.
Neal`s most recent appearance in the octagon was in December 2023, where he secured a win against former champion Rafael dos Anjos. This victory helped him rebound after suffering defeats to Ian Machado Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
