It's time to find out if Neil Magny is a contender or pretender
Over the past two years, Neil Magny has gone from an undercard cast off on the verge of unemployment to winning nine of his last ten fights while eliminating almost every prospect the welterweight division has to offer.
At this point, it's hard to even fathom that Magny lost back-to-back fights in 2013 that put his UFC record at 1-2 after being part of one of the most forgettable casts in "Ultimate Fighter" history.
Since that time, Magny adopted the philosophy to always answer when UFC matchmaker Joe Silva calls and say “yes” to whatever fight gets offered to him. Magny managed to bounce back from those consecutive losses and then win five fights in 2014, which tied him for the all-time record for most victories in a calendar year.
Magny's only loss in the past two years came to Demian Maia, who might just be one of the toughest matchups for anyone at 170-pounds. Otherwise, Magny has picked up nine wins with most of them coming against fighters who were all at one time or another touted as potential threats to the top 10.
The latest addition to his resume didn't come easy, however, as Kelvin Gastelum put up a serious fight through five rounds. Magny went up big early, but Gastelum powered back late and nearly finished the fight in round four.
There was an argument that Gastelum could have earned a 10-8 fourth round, which would have then potentially caused the fight to end in a draw, but judges in mixed martial arts rarely hand those out so the decision shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.
The scores were close, but ultimately Magny got the nod by split decision -- and don't forget, he also took this fight on two weeks notice after his teammate Matt Brown suffered an injury and he stepped in to replace him.
Gastelum's name gets added to the growing list of prospects Magny has tackled over the past couple of years. Prior to this fight, Magny took out Erick Silva, who has been tagged as “the next big thing” at least a half dozen times although he's rarely lived up to expectation. Magny also took out Alex Garcia, who was a highly touted fighter training out of Canada's Tri-Star gym, which is the same facility that produced Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald.
Magny has done all of this without ever saying a bad word about his opponents or puffing out his chest and proclaiming himself as one of the best welterweights in the world. He's just quietly put together one of the most impressive records in the sport over his last 10 fights, but now it's time to see if Magny is a legitimate threat to the top 10 or just a gatekeeper to stop everyone else from getting past No. 11.
Magny fell short the last time he tried to tackle similar opposition but he was getting another chance at UFC 195 in a fight against No. 8-ranked welterweight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson until he got yanked in favor of the main event in Mexico on Saturday night instead. Unfortunately, thanks to a five-round war with Gastelum there's no chance Magny will still fight on Jan. 2, and he shut the door to any possibility at the post-fight press conference.
Magny might get a slight bump up the rankings, but as 2016 approaches there's no way he's not looking at the fighters sitting in front of him and hoping for a chance to face off with one of them. A lot will be determined over the next couple of months with a slew of welterweight fights scheduled, but there are a few choices available already.
Former champion Johny Hendricks needs an opponent after his weight-cutting disaster in October forced him out of a fight with Tyron Woodley. Rick Story is also a possible matchup and that fight could make a lot of sense considering Magny replaced him in August for the matchup with Silva.
Magny has earned the right to face a top 10 opponent, but now it's up to him to prove he's a threat to the cream of the crop of the welterweight division or if he's destined to stay on the outside looking in.
