Stephen Thompson has truly fought a who’s who of the UFC welterweight division. However, there is one fight he always thought would happen, but now appears to no longer be an option.
Over the course of his UFC career, ‘Wonderboy’ has faced off with the likes of Vicente Luque, Tyron Woodley, Rory MacDonald and Anthony Pettis. However, there is one Brazilian legend that he never squared off with, that man being BJJ specialist, Demian Maia.
In a recent exclusive interview with LowKickMMA, Stephen Thompson discussed the ‘fight that got away,’ stating:
“Oh man, that would have been a special fight, for sure. Yeah man, that was always in the back of my head, and always one of those things where it was like, man, we could be facing each other. But it’s weird how our career paths just didn’t come across each other. My buddy Rory MacDonald fought him on the very first card (I fought on), UFC 143… Rory MacDonald fought him, ended up beating Demian Maia. But I was like, man, this guy was a beast, I’ll probably end up fighting this guy. I think he’s retired… It’s just crazy how that didn’t happen.”
DEMIAN MAIA WITH THE SUBMISSION!
@DemianMaia gets it done in the third at #UFCSingapore! pic.twitter.com/aYwppYOD2K
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) October 26, 2019
Stephen Thompson currently targeting a rematch with Jorge Masvidal
Whilst a fight against Demian Maia is no longer an option, there is another veteran of the welterweight division that Stephen Thompson would like to face. ‘Wonderboy’ already has a win over Jorge Masvidal, but is now targeting a rematch with ‘Gamebred.’ He stated:
“He’s improved, I’ve improved. The last time we faced each other I think was UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden, they got another one of those coming up.“
In an attempt to market the fight, Thompson has billed it as ‘the NMF vs. the BMF.’
“I know he’s going through allegations right now with Colby Covington well see how that turns out and I don’t think he’ll be fighting until that is over. He’s still looking for them big money fights at this point, but I think that would be exciting, the NMF vs. the BMF? Let’s go!”