Welterweight southpaws meet down south on Saturday night, as Geoff Neal faces Uros Medic in the co-main event of UFC Houston.
Neal (16–7, 10 KOs) has dropped three of his last four bouts, a brutal stretch punctuated by a buzzer-beater, first-round knockout from Carlos Prates last August. Medic (12–3, 10 KOs) has won three of his last four — all by first-round knockout — and in November, he sparked Muslim Salikhov in just over a minute.
Neal enters as a -218 moneyline favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook, while Medic sits as a +180 underdog. The total is set at 1.5 rounds.
Neal vs. Medic Preview
Geoff Neal
Texas native Geoff Neal returns home, aiming to rebound from August’s buzzer-beater knockout loss against Carlos Prates, getting flattened with a spinning elbow at the last second of the first round. The grisly defeat underscored the fact that he’s in dire need of a momentum shift — Neal has lost five of his last eight fights dating back to December 2020.
Granted, “Handz of Steel” has suffered from the success of being a perennial contender. The No. 12-ranked welterweight in the UFC’s five losses during that stretch came against some of the fiercest competition the division can offer: Stephen Thompson, Neil Magny, Shavkhat Rakhmanov, Ian Garry, and Carlos Prates.
The veteran southpaw — who stands 5-foot-11 with a 75-inch reach — remains a formidable striker, landing over five significant strikes per minute with strong accuracy. His last victory came in the form of a first-round KO over former lightweight champ Rafael Dos Anjos in October 2024.
Still, he tends to take as much damage as he gives, if not more. Now 35 years old and reeling from a brutal stoppage, concerns linger around just how much more his chin can take.
Uros Medic
Uros Medic heads into UFC Houston riding an intriguing streak: Each of his last two wins — against Gilbert Urbina in August and Muslim Salikhov in November — came by knockout just 1:03 into the first round.
While Medic, 32, has had an inconsistent run since his Octagon debut in May 2021, the Serbian southpaw — who stands 6-foot-1 with a 71-inch reach — has secured all of his seven UFC wins by knockout. He boasts a 100% finish rate and has never seen a judge’s scorecard.
Aptly nicknamed “The Doctor,” he operates at a swift pace and with surgical precision, landing 5.53 significant strikes per minute at 60% accuracy.
Neal vs. Medic Pick, Best Bet
Saturday’s co-main event presents an intriguing stand-up clash between aggressive strikers with thunderous knockout power. While Neal is far more experienced against top competition, eventually that damage begins to take a toll — and it seems to have already done so.
Expect Medic to have a slight edge on the feet and capitalize against a fading opponent, playing spoiler against the Texas native with an upset victory.
