Neal put his pride on the line most recently against the dangerous Niko Price on the PPV portion of UFC 240. Fighting an exciting competitor like Price made it easy for Neal to find motivation in the lead-up to that fight and he feels the same way about his matchup with Perry.

“Honestly, it makes me train way harder,” Neal said. “He’s a guy who I’ve always thought would be fun to fight and I have no idea what to expect in the fight. I could break my hands; I might have cuts on my face. But I’m going to have to push through it and get the job done.”

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In August, Perry fought Vicente Luque and suffered a gruesome nose injury, but that didn’t slow him down one bit. Perry’s toughness is something that Neal believes sets him apart from other fighters that he’s faced.

And that’s when Neal brings that whole “pride” thing back up.

“His toughness is what separates him from the rest of guys that I’ve fought,” Neal said. “He is never going to go away, he’s going to be trying to take my head off and I’m going to try to take his head off. This is going to be the biggest fight of my life and I just can’t wait for December 14th.”