Before Neil Magny became ‘The Haitian Sensation’ inside the Octagon, he wore a very different uniform. Many fans only know him for his record-setting appearances in the cage, but his discipline was forged elsewhere as he served in the military.
Today, at 38 years old, Magny is preparing to face Jake Matthews at UFC Perth, but his past tells us why he thrives in the most uncomfortable places. What role did the military play in shaping his career? And how did deployments abroad prepare him for life as a professional fighter? Let’s dive in!
Neil Magny’s Military Career
Neil Magny, before putting on his professional MMA gloves, served a tenure of 7 years in the armed forces. The UFC welterweight served as a light-wheeled mechanic in the National Guard of Illinois, Chicago. During his seven-year tenure, he climbed up to the rank of Sergeant. That path eventually led to deployments in Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Magny has often shared how martial arts played a part in his military service. He trained with fellow soldiers during downtime and leaned on the structure of MMA to stay grounded while deployed. The harshness of service also shaped his perspective. He once admitted that losing a close friend to self-harm during his time in the military left a lasting mark on him.
His fellow guardsmen weren’t eager to see him leave. When Magny decided to depart the National Guard in 2013 to chase his UFC dreams, they expressed regret but encouraged him to follow his passion. That leap of faith laid the foundation for the fighter fans know today.
How did Magny’s army tenure help him in MMA?
If you think military service and MMA are worlds apart, Magny would argue otherwise. For him, the transition was natural. In a 2021 interview, he confessed, “Doing the Ultimate Fighter series, for a lot of people it was difficult. They were in a house for seven weeks away from their family, and that stress built up on a lot of guys. For me, it was kind of a walk in the park. It was like ‘You want me to go to a mansion in the middle of Las Vegas to fight for a UFC contract? I’m there; this is easiest thing I’ve ever done in my life.’”
To Neil Magny, living in a controlled environment was nothing compared to deployment. He explained that he knew where he would be, he knew it was safe, and that made the entire process simple compared to life in the military.
Even a decade later, the habits stuck. During the pandemic, fighters struggled with lockdowns, but Magny embraced it as he further shared, “Because of the current environment we’re in, we’re kind of on lockdown at the hotel, that kind of thing. For a lot of fighters, it can be stressful. ‘I want to leave the hotel! I want to see different things!’ But for me, I’m thriving in an uncomfortable environment. This is a walk in the park.”
Clearly, the resilience built during seven years of service never left him. It still gives him an edge every time he walks into the Octagon. But ‘The Haitian Sensation’ wasn’t the only UFC fighter who served in the military.
UFC legend and two-divisional champion, Randy Couture, served 6 years in the army as an Air Traffic Controller. Former UFC middleweight Tim Kennedy also served in the US Army and had a 3-2 record in the promotion with a win over former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
Liz Carmouche was one of the first female fighters in the UFC. She made three deployments to Iraq while serving as an aviation electrician in the US Marines. Moreover, former UFC middleweight Tim Credeur, who fought in the UFC from 2008 to 2011, served in the US military as a sonar technician in the Navy.
So, from Army boots to UFC gloves, Neil Magny’s path is one of endurance. Those years instilled the calmness and resilience that now define his fighting style. As he steps into UFC Perth against Jake Matthews, the crowd will see a veteran fighter. But beneath the bright lights is a man whose toughest battles were fought far away from the Octagon!