This is the UFC Vegas 17 live blog for Stephen Thompson vs. Geoff Neal, the welterweight headliner for Saturday’s fight card at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Thompson returns 13 months after stopping the rise of slugger Vicente Luque at UFC 244, a bout that left him with serious hand injuries that took him out of action for much of 2020.
Neal comes into the fight on a seven-bout winning streak. One year ago, he became the first fighter to knock out Mike Perry with a 90-second stoppage at UFC 245; a serious health scare kept him benched afterward.