UFC Welterweight Geoff Neal Arrested, Charged With DWI, Unlawful Carrying Of Weapon

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC

#12 ranked UFC welterweight contender, Geoff Neal, was arrested on November 25. last in his native Texas, where he was charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) and the unlawful carrying of a weapon, ahead of his scheduled Octagon return on December 11. at UFC 269. 

Neal, a native of Austin, Texas, as per a document obtained by MMA Junkie from the Collin County Sheriff's Office, was arrested at 3:47 a.m. on Thanksgiving Day after he was charged with misdemeanor offenses of DWI and unlawful carrying of a weapon. Brought to Collin County Jail in McKinney, Texas, Neal was held on bail of $1,000 per offense, before his release at 8:08 p.m. on November 25. 

Seven-fight UFC alum, Neal is still scheduled to make his Octagon return on December 11. next as part of the pay-per-view main card of UFC 269 against fellow welterweight contender, Santiago Ponzinibbio at the time of publication. 

Attempting to snap a two-fight losing skid against the Argentine, Neal last featured in May of this year at UFC Vegas 25 -- dropping a unanimous judging defeat against rescheduled foe, Neil Magny in a main card bout.

Prior to that loss, Neal suffered the first blemish of his Octagon run in the form of another unanimous judging defeat -- this time opposite two-time welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson at UFC Vegas 17 in December of last year.

In August of last year, Neal was sidelined ahead of a targeted pairing with Magny, where he contracted septicemia, which required treatment in an intensive care unit for a number of days. 

Suffering the snapping of his five-fight promotional-perfect run against Thompson, Neal had previously dispatched the quintet of Mike Perry, Niko Price, Belal Muhammad, Frank Camacho, and Brian Camozzi. 

Neal earned his multi-fight deal with the promotion back in July 2017 where he stopped Chase Walton in the opening round of their Dana White's Contender Series 3 bout.