To say Josh Thomson is fired up heading into his bout with Tony Ferguson at Fight Night 71 on Wednesday would be an understatement. It would also be one that requires a bit of clarity as well.
The former Strikeforce lightweight champion turned UFC contender is coming off back-to-back split-decision losses that could have very well gone his way.
The Punk came out on the short side of a five-round scrap with Benson Henderson at UFC on Fox 10 back in January 2014, only to follow it up with another razor-thin split on the judges’ scorecards against Bobby Green five months later at UFC on Fox 12 in San Jose, California.
That pair of losses served to push the 36-year-old veteran off the radar for a potential title opportunity—one he was originally slated to get until then-champion Anthony Pettis pulled out of their scheduled bout with an injury.
Nevertheless, the fight game is one where winning matters most, and a two-fight skid in what is arguably the most competitive division under the UFC banner was going to change a few things where his place in the lightweight hierarchy is concerned.
The No. 9-ranked Thomson would need to win a few fights in order to get back into striking distance of a title opportunity, and being a veteran of the sport, that is something the American Kickboxing Academy fighter says he completely understands.
But Thomson wants bigger fights to regain lost ground, and getting lined up against fighters who aren’t in the same ranking tier he exists in is something Thomson isn’t happy with.
“After the fight with Benson [Henderson], I was upset,” Thomson told Bleacher Report. “I lost the title fight I was supposed to get because of that. I was scheduled to fight Anthony Pettis for the title before that, but Pettis backed out. I ended up fighting Benson, which I had to lobby to get. Afterwards, they [the UFC] didn’t want to give me any top-ranked guys. They wanted to give me no-name guys I’d never heard of and who weren’t even ranked in the top 20. I only wanted to fight top guys and I was really upset—especially because I believe I won the fight, and did so with one hand.
“I still feel I did enough to win the fight, and losing the fight cost me a title shot. That for me was a hard one to get over. As far as the Bobby Green fight, I blame myself for that because I wasn’t happy about the situation,” Thomson, who was originally slated to face Michael Johnson, said.
“I get stuck with an opponent who was completely different than the one I was scheduled to fight just two weeks out and I was pretty upset about it,” he added. “I was already unhappy about having to fight Michael Johnson, then had to turn around and fight Bobby Green. It showed in my performance. I just wanted to get through it, get the win and get out of there. Obviously, the judges saw it a different way, so it cost me.”
Despite having lost close fights against Henderson and Green, the California native continued to set his sights on the upper echelon of competition in the lightweight ranks, but back-to-back losses don’t exactly get a fighter high-profile bouts against the division’s top five.
So the road back began.
Unsuccessful in landing the fights he was aiming for, Thomson was still ready to go back to work. He agreed to face jiu-jitsu ace Gilbert Burns at Fight Night 62 in Brazil but was eventually forced out of that bout after suffering an injury in his training camp.
The next challenge to come down the line was the 11th-ranked Ferguson, who has won eight of his nine showings inside the Octagon since winning The Ultimate Fighter 13.
In Thomson’s mind, a victory over Ferguson would do little to bolster his case for a future title shot, whereas Ferguson would have much to gain should he find success in San Diego. That isn’t a picture Thomson is content with, but he seems to have settled for it being the reality of his situation.
“I’ve kind of just moved on and it is what it is,” Thomson said. “I’ve come to the conclusion that they want to give me the Dan Henderson approach and have me fight their up-and-coming guys and take away any chance of me ever fighting for their title.”
Thomson’s comments have struck a nerve with Ferguson. According to MMAJunkie Radio (h/t MMAJunkie), Ferguson has been vocal about what he sees as a lack of motivation from the San Jose-based lightweight heading into their fight.
El Cucuy has dropped several pointed barbs in his direction, none of which seem to concern the veteran.
“It’s all talk to me,” Thomson said. “In the day and age of this sport, all these younger guys feel they have to talk trash to get recognition. The problem is they all try to talk trash like Conor McGregor and Chael Sonnen, and they all sound stupid. They all talk to try to put themselves in the spotlight and get name recognition, but they all sound dumb. Look, dude, at the end of the day we are going to fight, so there isn’t much that needs to be said.
“I’ve asked for [Donald] Cerrone. I’ve asked for [Rafael] dos Anjos. I’ve asked for Pettis. As soon as Pettis lost and was ready to fight again, saying he wanted to get back in there, I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ Same with Cerrone, but it was made clear I had no chance of getting those fights. Whether Tony Ferguson is upset over me trying to fight top-ranked guys doesn’t matter to me. Any smart businessman, any smart athlete, is going to try to step in there and seize the opportunity. I think he’s more upset he didn’t think of it first.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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