PHILADELPHIA – Neil Magny has been doing it so long that he no longer keeps track.
Eight days after the 16-year anniversary of his first professional MMA fight (a 2010 bout vs. Nolan Norwood for C3 Fights), Magny (31-14 MMA, 21-13 UFC) remains an important player in the UFC welterweight division.
"Life has a way of forcing you how to evolve sort of speak," Magny told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. "I'm working with new coaches, new environment and everything like that. The way that this last year went, my last fight was in December. I thought I'd be out there in December, ready to fight a month later, two months later, three months later. Here I am nine months later having an opportunity to fight. During these last nine months, I've been very active in my gyms,
with my wrestling coach, my striking coach, my jiu-jitsu coach. I'm still adding to the game, adding to the repertoire, sort of speak, and still have the ability to change, sort of speak."
UFC 330 marks Magny's 38th UFC appearance. He takes on Ramiz Brahimaj (13-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC) on the prelims at Xfinity Mobile Arena. While he never won, nor contended for a title, his name is scattered throughout the welterweight record books. Even at 39, however, "unc" (his words) is still evolving. In fact, for this camp, he divided from his past team and decided to take a more free-flow approach.
"I was very fortunate to have a coach I worked with for 10-plus years," Magny said. "Since then, he and I separated. He's on his own path and that sort of thing. I'm very fortunate to find new coaches, new training partners to come to me and still help me continue growing. I have a core set of coaches but beside that it's like nomads. We have a group of guys, we're like, 'Hey, we'e training at this time.' Alright, we'll be there. Then you all go back to your own coaches, do your own thing and meet up a couple times a week."
Even after all the years and fights, Magny still feels like he's improving. Nearly all his losses since 2023 came against opponents who went on to rank in the current top 15 – the likes of Michael Morales, Ian Machado Garry, and Carlos Prates, among others. He's not done yet.
"Short term goal is to get in the rankings," Magny said. "It's time for 'Unc' to get back into the rankings. This is something a lot of fighters struggle with throughout their careers. They're in the rankings for a bit, they lose their rankings, and they struggle to get back in there. I think I've actually got the opportunity to get back in there in the rankings. From there, I've got to reassess, set the new goal, and attack it."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Neil Magny out to show 'Unc' still has it at UFC 330
