Athletes
Neil Magny | Consistency Is King
Welterweight Stalwart Talks Rallying For Wins, Getting Called Out, Seeking A Standout Performance
“Neil Magny did Neil Magny things on Saturday night, rallying to finish Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos late in the second round.”
That was how the recap of Magny’s last fight opened, and, just from that description, anyone that has watched the career of the man with the most wins in welterweight division history knows exactly how that fight played out without ever having seen a second of it. Applicable to each of his last two wins, the common notes are that for some portion of the contest, Magny was on the wrong side of things only to survive, persist, and find a way to secure a victory.
In each of those last two instances — against dos Santos and Mike Malott at UFC 294 before that — the former Ultimate Fighter contestant and welterweight mainstay rallied to finish, adding another tick in the win column and further backing up the “Neil Magny doing Neil Magny things” designation.
“It feels great,” Magny said with a smile, laughing at the intro to his last victory while stationed in Perth, Australia, where he faces off with Jake Matthews this weekend on the main card of the UFC’s return to RAC Arena. “It feels good to still be doing this 12 years later at the highest level against great competitors. I’m definitely grateful for that part… It’s a testament to the consistency I’ve put in over the years to be able to go out there and find a way to get it done, no matter what; no matter the odds or no matter how the fight is going. It’s a testament to my durability and consistency in the sport.”
Neil Magny Octagon Interview | UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park
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Neil Magny Octagon Interview | UFC Fight Night: Taira vs Park
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That durability and consistency have been hallmarks of Magny’s career from the outset, even in the moments when the results haven’t always been there.
Regardless of recent results, you can count on the 38-year-old veteran turning up three or four times a year, ready to take on anyone from the latest emerging talent in need of a veteran litmus test or a fellow stalwart in a battle to see who can take an important step forward in the division.
He has only suffered back-to-back defeats twice in his UFC career — once at the outset, and again prior to his win over dos Santos — which is even more impressive considering he’s made 35 trips into the Octagon and earned 23 victories, which puts him in a 5-way tie for second most with Max Holloway, Charles Oliveira, Donald Cerrone, and Andrei Arlovski, four back of all-time wins leader Jim Miller.
“I have to give credit to one of my longtime coaches, Leister Bowling — that guy instilled that in me a long time ago when I started training with him,” Magny said when asked where his signature consistency comes from. “Whether I had a good day, bad day, whatever it may be, he always kept it direct with me, always kept it honest with me… If I went out there and won, but the margin was very small, he’d call me out. If I went in and had a practice where I wasn’t my best — ‘Yeah Coach, today was just a tough one; I don’t know what was going on’ — he would literally tell you, ‘Yeah, you looked like absolute crap. Whatever it is that’s going on in your mind or physically, take care of it and move forward.’ I think that level of accountability with a coach allows me to be where I’m at now to where I can immediately assess what is going on and make adjustments, rather than sit around and try to find someone or something to blame.
“That’s what I’m doing with this fight now,” he added. “Even in the last fight with Elizeu, it’s a great win, great performance, but there are definitely things I could improve on, so I didn’t waste any time addressing them, and making the necessary adjustments.”
And in typical Magny fashion, he didn’t waste much time getting back into action either, jumping right back into the fray less than two months after defeating the Brazilian veteran and making the extended trip to square off with Matthews, who has lobbied for this opportunity many times over.
Getting called out is nothing new for “The Haitian Sensation,” who is a frequent target of anyone looking to climb the ranks and earn a win over an established name, but with the depth in the 170-pound weight class, he is starting to wonder why exactly all these fighters, including Matthews, are specifically eyeing him?
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“That’s the answer I want from him: what about me made you want to fight me so bad?” he said with a smirk. “The welterweight division is stacked with people, so with the number of opponents you could have, why in particular were you asking for me? But here we are. You asked for it, you got it, and you better make it count on.”
While he admitted that Matthews was never truly on his radar, the constant call-outs and Perth being on the upcoming schedule following his win over dos Santos quickly prompted Magny to put two and two together and recognize that his latest international business trip was a very real possibility
As such, he jumped straight back into the gym and started training, expecting this call to come and happy to accept it, especially given that he’s familiar with circumnavigating the globe in order to get his hand raised.
“It definitely plays a factor,” he said of having made a pair of successful trips to the ANZAC region, the first in 2014 when he defeated Rodrigo de Lima in Auckland, New Zealand, and the second just under two years later when he did “Neil Magny things” in order to defeat Hector Lombard in Brisbane. “The fact that I fought in New Zealand and Australia before, had success both times definitely gives you a little ‘I’m familiar with this part of the world; I know what the time change is like, know what it’s like to compete in the day time, know what it’s like to have that crowd against you.’
“It helps a lot to be honest with you, especially to be able to travel to a place like Australia where you’re going clear to the other side of the world,” added Magny. “It definitely helps having experienced it before. There are all types of different factors you have to take into consideration: what is the weight gonna be like after that long day of traveling? You’re saying goodnight to your kids on Tuesday while you’re enjoying Wednesday morning.
“All these different things factor into how you’re going to show up come fight week, but having done it before makes it a walk in the part and super-comfortable for me.”
Comfortable in his surroundings and feeling like he’s in a great place mentally, physically, and emotionally at the moment, Magny sees this weekend’s clash with Matthews as a perfect opportunity to take another step towards achieving his main short-term goal and putting himself in a position to chase down something bigger in 2026.
“Gold was always the thing that I entered the sport looking to chase and it always will stay in the back of my mind moving forward, but in recent years, I’ve had to readjust my goals to see what’s foreseeable in the near future, accomplish those, and go ahead and reassess,” explained the U.S. Army veteran. “This is the first year in over 11 years that I’m not ranked in the Top 15 at welterweight, so obviously one of the immediate goals for me is to get back in the rankings, and I feel like a win over Jake Matthews puts me in a position to fight ranked opponents.
“From there, readjust,” he added. “Can I target the Top 10? Can I target the Top 5? Can I be in the window for title contention again?”
With everything in line, the man with the most victories in the history of the UFC welterweight division isn’t just looking to add to his win totals this weekend — he’s aiming to deliver the one of the best performances of his career.
“I’m ready to go out there and put on the best performance of my career thus far,” said Magny when asked his expectations for this weekend. “And this is the opportunity to go out there and do that.
“Jake’s a great opponent, the stage is set to have an amazing live crowd behind us, and I can’t wait to go out there and perform.”
UFC Fight Night: Ulberg vs Reyes took place live from RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on September 27, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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