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“I’m going for Anthony just because I’ve been a fan of him for a while and he was my last loss, so I would like to see him do well.”
Stephen Thompson holds no ill will towards Anthony Pettis despite being brutally KO’d by the former WEC and UFC lightweight champion at UFC on ESPN+ 6.
In fact, speaking to Submission Radio in a recent interview, ‘Wonderboy’ admitted that he’s one of ‘Showtime’s’ biggest fans and explained why he’s picking the Roufusport product to beat Nate Diaz at UFC 241.
“Yeah man, I think that’s a very interesting fight,” Thompson said, per The Body Lock’s Abhinav Kini. “You got an explosive guy versus kind of like a marathon guy. Nate Diaz being the marathoner and Anthony Pettis being the more explosive guy, the sprinter. Anthony, he’s had some gas tank problems in the past. I think he might have fixed that. But he’s super fast and tricky. He’s caught some really good jiu-jitsu guys. He’s really good everywhere.
“So is Nate. Nate takes a lot of damage but he’s very hard because he’s very long. He keeps his opponents at bay with his striking as you saw with Conor McGregor. Conor McGregor had a hard time catching him with his hands because he was so long. And he’s just relentless. Him and his brother take shots and they just keep coming forward.
“But Anthony Pettis is fast. I’m going for Anthony just because I’ve been a fan of him for a while and he was my last loss, so I would like to see him do well. We were cool after the fight too, he’s such a cool dude. And we come from a similar background so I would like to see that style do well. It’s going to be fun. Hopefully, Anthony Pettis has a good gas tank and I think he can out-trick Nate Diaz.”
Diaz, 34, hasn’t fought since 2016, when he dropped a majority decision to Conor McGregor in a Fight of the Night and Fight of the Year epic at UFC 202. Prior to that, the Stockton local submitted McGregor at UFC 196.
Diaz’ three-year hiatus is another reason Thompson is picking Pettis to get the W on Aug. 17.
“It’s been a while since he’s fought,” Thompson said of Diaz. “I think it’s been a few years. I think his last might have been Conor? Wow. So it’s been a while. Is Nate the same guy? We don’t know. So I’m going with my man Pettis.”
UFC 241, which features Pettis vs. Diaz in the co-main event, takes place next month, August 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.