Grant Neal

Grant Neal is an American mixed martial arts fighter and former college football player. He currently fights as a light heavyweight in Bellator MMA.
==Background==
===Education and athletic background===
Neal was a wrestler and football player for Regis Jesuit High School, becoming a 5A state wrestling champion at 195 pounds and being awarded "Student-Athlete of the week" by The Denver Post. In the same year, he joined Colorado State University-Pueblo on an athletic scholarship as a biology student aiming to become an orthopedic surgeon and as a player for the university's football team: the ThunderWolves. Neal played in all 15 games of the 2014 season that allowed the team to capture a Division II national championship. 
===Alleged sexual assault controversy===
During his time at the university, Neal met a female student in the athletic trainer squad, with whom he would have sexual relations in the fall of his sophomore year (October 25, 2015). The following day, his encounter with her had been reported as a sexual assaut by a student on the athetic team who saw hickeys on the woman's neck. On a phone call made later the same day and recorded by Neal, the woman can be heard deying any possible rape accusation. On October 27, a Title IX investigation began at CSU-Pueblo. The woman declared the encounter had been consensual and she had only stopped it at one point because she did not want to have sex unprotected, as she was not on birth control. She stated that, once Neal put on a condom, she was okay with the encounter. On the same day the investigation began, the woman would engage in intercourse with Neal again. CSU-Pueblo concluded that Neal was still at fault for the brief seconds in which intercourse without a condom took place and it was determined Neal would be suspended until the woman graduated. In response to this sanction, Neal filed a lawsuit against the university and the U.S. Department of Education. Neal v. Colo. State Univ.-Pueblo, Civil Action No. 16-cv-873-RM-CBS (D. Colo. Feb. 16, 2017)The case was settled in July 2017, with neither party admitting to any wrongdoing. 
==Mixed martial arts career==
While Neal's lawsuit against CSU-Pueblo and the U.S. Department of Education was ongoing, he was put in contact with strength and conditioning coach Loren Landow. At the time, Landow was training several MMA fighters, among them Nate Marquardt, whom he introduced to Neal. Neal would eventually begin training under Marquardt, seeing MMA as a new opportunity that was aided by his previous wrestling experience. Neal would have his first amateur fight in Boulder, Colorado, finishing it with punches only 26 seconds into the bout. Neal would go on to have five more amateur fights, in which he would earn titles in the Sparta Combat League and Tuff-N-Uff promotions before making his professional debut on February 23, 2019. 
For his professional debut, Neal would fight on Sparta Sports and Entertainment´s SCL 72. There, he would submit Juan Molina 46 seconds into the first round via rear naked choke. A few months after, Neal would be signed by Bellator MMA, making his debut on the promotion in Bellator 233, on November 8, 2019, and winning via unanimous decision against Jimmy Lugo. Neal would go on to win his next four fights (two via unanimous decision, one via submission and one via TKO) before losing to Alex Polizzi via split decision in Bellator 300. After suffering his first loss, Neal went on a three fight win streak (two wins via unanimous decision and one win via split decision) that would end with a unanimous decision loss to Luke Trainer. Neal was set to fight at middleweight on September 7, 2024, in a bout against Khalid Murtazaliev in Bellator Champions Series 4. However, on August 29, the bout was cancelled. No reasons for this were given. Neal is currently the 4th ranked light heavyweight in Bellator MMA.
==Personal life==
In 2018, Neal launched a Kickstarter campaign to create a documentary about his life titled "A Violent Dance: The True Story of Grant Neal". On June 22, 2023, Neal married Hannah Neal, the couple announced the occasion through social media.
==Mixed martial arts record==
|-
|Loss
|align=center|9-2
|Luke Trainer
|Decision (unanimous)
|Bellator Champions Series 1: Anderson vs. Moore
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|Belfast, Northern Ireland, Ireland
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|9-1
|Romero Cotton
|Decision (unanimous)
|Bellator 300 - Nurmagomedov vs. Primus
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|San Diego, California, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|8-1
|Karl Albrektsson
|Decision (split)
|Bellator 290 - Bader vs. Fedor 2
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|Inglewood, California, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|7-1
|Christian Edwards
|Decision (unanimous)
|Bellator 278 - Velasquez vs. Carmouche
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|6-1
|Alex Polizzi
|Decision (split)
|Bellator 266 - Romero vs. Davis
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|San Jose, California, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|6-0
|Tyree Fortune
|Submission (rear naked choke)
|Bellator 259 - Cyborg vs. Smith 2
|
|align="center"|1
|align="center"|4:20
|Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|5-0
|Maurice Jackson
|Submission (rear naked choke)
|Bellator 254 - Macfarlane vs. Velasquez
|
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|3:59
|Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|4-0
|Hamza Salim
|Decision (unanimous)
|Bellator 243 - Chandler vs. Henderson 2
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|Uncasville, Connecticut, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|3-0
|Claude Wilcox
|TKO (punches)
|Bellator 239 - Ruth vs. Amosov
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|3:37
|Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|2-0
|Jimmy Lugo
|Decision (unanimous)
|Bellator 233 - Salter vs. van Steenis
|
|align="center"|3
|align="center"|5:00
|Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|1-0
|Juan Molina
|Submission (rear naked Choke)
|SCL 72 - Cotton vs. Chavez
|
|align="center"|1
|align="center"|0:46
|Denver, Colorado, United States
|
|-
|}
Category:1995 births
Category:American male mixed martial artists
Category:American people
Category:College football player stubs