Neil Magny has been designated a welterweight gatekeeper for a long while. That tag first got put on the 34-year-old somewhere between December 2016 and December 2017, when he faced three former UFC title holders Johny Hendricks, Rafael dos Anjos and Carlos Condit in succession. Magny won two of those three contests — Hendricks and Condit — and is 8-3 since those victories.
On Saturday, Magny’s assignment is to see if Shavkat Rakhmonov deserves the hype he’s accumulated in three UFC fights. The bout serves as the co-main event of UFC Vegas 57.
First, I want to clear up any confusion on the term “gatekeeper.