Neil Magny dismisses gatekeeper talk ahead of UFC 219 battle with Carlos Condit

Neil Magny will find himself in familiar territory tonight (Sat., Dec. 30, 2017) at UFC 219 live on pay-per-view (PPV) from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, when he takes former interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit.

While Magny has never fought Condit before, he has become a tester of sorts in the UFC’s stacked 170-pound division. Not only has Magny welcomed back Hector Lombard after a lengthy suspension, but he served as the last divisional stop for former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, and the first divisional stop for former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos. Magny will now welcome back Condit to the ranks after “Natural Born Killer” took a 16-month hiatus from fighting.

Despite all of that, Magny isn’t ready to consider himself a gatekeeper in the UFC’s welterweight division. In fact, he believes UFC 219 will be a huge opportunity for not only Condit, but also himself.

“Not at all,” Magny said when discussing his recent competition in an interview with MMAjunkie. “As much as it’s a test for Carlos Condit, it’s a test for me. I get to go up against another former world champion and really test myself.

“Gold is what I’m after. If I can hang with these guys that are former world champions, I know I can hang with guys that are current champions. So, I look at it as as big a test for me as it is for him.”

While Magny has been given the responsibility to play spoiler for some of the biggest names in the division, the 30-year-old veteran has still managed to produce a 6-3 record since the beginning of 2015. Defeating a proven contender like Condit will help Magny shake off a recent submission loss to RDA and right the ship heading into 2018.

“For me, it was a guy I always looked up to,” Magny said of Condit. “As my career progressed, and I got to the point where I was in the top 10, he was one of the guys I was like, ‘Oh, wow, what if I get to fight this guy now?'”

Whether or not Magny should be considered a gatekeeper at this point in his career, he’s going to find it very difficult to defeat a rejuvenated Condit this weekend in Las Vegas. But if the former Ultimate Fighter standout is able to get past “Natural Born Killer” in fashion, he should be sitting pretty in a volatile weight class entering next year.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 219 fight card, starting with the Fight Pass "Prelims" matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.