Michael Chiesa will be returning to the octagon against veteran Welterweight Neil Magny, who is on a little win-streak himself.

They will be headlining the 20th January card on Fight Island. Chiesa spoke to Mike Bohn from MMA Junkie and broke down the fight.

“You can’t expect to look good beating Neil. That’s a tough expectation to put on yourself when you’ve got a guy as well-rounded as he is. He doesn’t really have any glaring weaknesses.

“He’s just a good all-around fighter. He’s very well-conditioned. He comes from a good team. Good human being.

Chiesa added, “There’s really nothing bad I can say about the guy. He’s just a good all-around sport. But I have certain aspects to my game.

“He’s good at everything, but I think there’s things that I do better than he does. Those are the things I need to emphasize and capitalize on.”

Michael Chiesa: Has he read this correctly?

Michael Chiesa and Neil Magny are often pigeonholed into the category of ‘boring’ fighters for their slow approach to fights. Both men are terrific grapplers and use that skill to impose their will on their opponents.

However, ‘Mike the Mav’ has made it clear that he does not care if he can finish him early or has to battle it out for 5 rounds with the veteran.

“I’m not expecting to look pretty beating Neil Magny, I’m just going to go in there and do whatever I need to do to get the job done and I’m going to be pursuing a finish as I always am.

“But if we got to go blood-and-guts for five rounds, so be it. I’m ready to do whatever I’ve got to do to get the job done.”

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Chiesa is currently on a 3-fight win-streak but hasn’t fought since January 2020. Magny is also currently on a 3-fight win streak, having beaten the former champion Robbie Lawler in his last outing. There’s a lot to look forward to this month and this is just the start.