With St-Pierre looming, Thompson ‘wasn’t really sure’ he’d get next title shot

Stephen Thompson wasn’t completely sure if he’d get the next title shot with ex-champ Georges St-Pierre expressing interest in a return.

Stephen Thompson is finally getting what he has deserved for the past six months: a title shot. He’s fighting Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight championship on the biggest stage possible — the pay-per-view main card of UFC 205, the promotion’s Madison Square Garden debut.

“Wonderboy” has been eyeing a shot at the belt ever since his upset win over Johny Hendricks this past February, but had to dominate Rory MacDonald in June and constantly call out the new champion to receive the long-awaited good news.

Although only recently confirmed, Woodley vs. Thompson has apparently been in the works since “The Chosen One’s” title win over Robbie Lawler three months ago.

“For awhile. Ever since the Tyron-Lawler fight, when Tyron ended up getting the belt,” Thompson told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus when asked how long UFC matchmakers have been looking to schedule the Woodley fight. “I’ve been working really hard. I know my fans have had my back the entire time, pushing for this fight.”

There was a time when Thompson wasn’t totally sure if he’d get the next title shot because of Georges St-Pierre’s interest in a return and the fact that there were a number of other top contenders at welterweight waiting for exactly what Thompson wanted. That said, something in the back of his head said that he would be the one, that he’d be the next challenger.

“It’s kind of been going back and forth,” Thompson said. “I wasn’t really sure if it was going to happen or not, because there was talk of GSP, and then Demian Maia coming out with a fantastic win over [Carlos] Condit.”

“So we weren’t really sure what was going to happen. When we got the call that it was going to happen, it was like a bunch of weight lifted off my shoulders. After all the stuff that’s happening, opponents saying, ‘I deserve the fight, give it to me,’ Georges St-Pierre, I just had a feeling it was going to be me. There was no doubt that I’ve earned it.”

Although it had been targeted for awhile, Thompson didn’t know that the fight was officially booked until the titleholder announced it during the UFC Fight Night 94 weigh-in show on FOX Sports 2 last month. Considering how fantastic the news was, “Wonderboy” couldn’t find it in him to be disappointed. But he would have preferred to be told directly by the company that the fight was a done deal before it was publicly reported.

“I wasn’t really sure until it was announced, until Tyron actually announced it on TV,” he said. “I was teaching kids classes, and next thing you know one of my karate trainers is jumping up and down. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ All my karate trainers had their phones up, looking at the article, watching the video of him announcing that he’s gonna be fighting me. It was all smiles. We were all jumping with joy.”

UFC 205 came together relatively late, with its main event, Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor, as well as most of its other fights, only being officially booked within the past week. But Thompson has been preparing for the New York date since the end of July, when Woodley knocked out “Ruthless.”

“You know what? Ever since he won the title, I’ve been preparing for Nov. 12 — Madison Square Garden,” Thompson claimed. “I knew that it was going to happen. That’s what I was shooting for. Just in case something like this happened, I’ve got eight weeks. I’ve got plenty of time for a good, hard camp. I wasn’t going to let myself get out of shape and then have to work myself back into shape. Just training every day, nothing crazy where I can get injured, but staying busy.”

Woodley has one-punch knockout power, yet many believe his clearest path to victory will be on the ground, as he’s a former NCAA Divison I wrestler. But “Wonderboy” is no slouch in the wrestling defense department, as seen in the Hendricks fight.

Ahead of UFC 205, he is particularly working with wrestling coach Thomas Lee, Chris Weidman and Matt Miller to become a better wrestler. Thompson states that Woodley’s wrestling “doesn’t scare” him “one bit.”

Thompson is quite aware of what he has to do against Woodley to claim the welterweight title. He plans to keep the fight standing, of course, but expects that he’d be able to pop right back up if taken down. Because he believes Woodley possibly has cardio issues, he understands that weathering the storm and capitalizing in the championship rounds is probably his best chance of winning. But he also said that he has to be “on edge” for the entire fight because Woodley is dangerous every minute of a fight.

All in all, he likes his chances of being successful.

“[Woodley] doesn’t fight very well backing up,” Thompson said. “He does have a mean right hand. He doesn’t throw a whole lot of other techniques. Maybe a few leg kicks every now and then. He’s very explosive. But he tires out very fast, and this is a five-round fight. So I gotta use my movement, use my kicks, stay away from the right hand, [and I’m] obviously working on my takedown defense.

“He may come out swinging out for the fences. That’s OK, because I like that, too. I like when guys come out there and think they’re going to finish me in the first round. But they start doing things they normally wouldn’t do, and that’s when I counter them and land those kicks and land those punches. So it could happen in the first round, [or] it could happen in the fifth round. If the knockout happens it happens, if it doesn’t, I’m ready to go five rounds.

“It should be a very, very rough night for Tyron Woodley.”

Stephen Thompson wasn’t completely sure if he’d get the next title shot with ex-champ Georges St-Pierre expressing interest in a return.

Stephen Thompson is finally getting what he has deserved for the past six months: a title shot. He’s fighting Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight championship on the biggest stage possible — the pay-per-view main card of UFC 205, the promotion’s Madison Square Garden debut.

“Wonderboy” has been eyeing a shot at the belt ever since his upset win over Johny Hendricks this past February, but had to dominate Rory MacDonald in June and constantly call out the new champion to receive the long-awaited good news.

Although only recently confirmed, Woodley vs. Thompson has apparently been in the works since “The Chosen One’s” title win over Robbie Lawler three months ago.

“For awhile. Ever since the Tyron-Lawler fight, when Tyron ended up getting the belt,” Thompson told BloodyElbow.com’s The MMA Circus when asked how long UFC matchmakers have been looking to schedule the Woodley fight. “I’ve been working really hard. I know my fans have had my back the entire time, pushing for this fight.”

There was a time when Thompson wasn’t totally sure if he’d get the next title shot because of Georges St-Pierre’s interest in a return and the fact that there were a number of other top contenders at welterweight waiting for exactly what Thompson wanted. That said, something in the back of his head said that he would be the one, that he’d be the next challenger.

“It’s kind of been going back and forth,” Thompson said. “I wasn’t really sure if it was going to happen or not, because there was talk of GSP, and then Demian Maia coming out with a fantastic win over [Carlos] Condit.”

“So we weren’t really sure what was going to happen. When we got the call that it was going to happen, it was like a bunch of weight lifted off my shoulders. After all the stuff that’s happening, opponents saying, ‘I deserve the fight, give it to me,’ Georges St-Pierre, I just had a feeling it was going to be me. There was no doubt that I’ve earned it.”

Although it had been targeted for awhile, Thompson didn’t know that the fight was officially booked until the titleholder announced it during the UFC Fight Night 94 weigh-in show on FOX Sports 2 last month. Considering how fantastic the news was, “Wonderboy” couldn’t find it in him to be disappointed. But he would have preferred to be told directly by the company that the fight was a done deal before it was publicly reported.

“I wasn’t really sure until it was announced, until Tyron actually announced it on TV,” he said. “I was teaching kids classes, and next thing you know one of my karate trainers is jumping up and down. I was like, ‘What’s going on?’ All my karate trainers had their phones up, looking at the article, watching the video of him announcing that he’s gonna be fighting me. It was all smiles. We were all jumping with joy.”

UFC 205 came together relatively late, with its main event, Eddie Alvarez vs. Conor McGregor, as well as most of its other fights, only being officially booked within the past week. But Thompson has been preparing for the New York date since the end of July, when Woodley knocked out “Ruthless.”

“You know what? Ever since he won the title, I’ve been preparing for Nov. 12 — Madison Square Garden,” Thompson claimed. “I knew that it was going to happen. That’s what I was shooting for. Just in case something like this happened, I’ve got eight weeks. I’ve got plenty of time for a good, hard camp. I wasn’t going to let myself get out of shape and then have to work myself back into shape. Just training every day, nothing crazy where I can get injured, but staying busy.”

Woodley has one-punch knockout power, yet many believe his clearest path to victory will be on the ground, as he’s a former NCAA Divison I wrestler. But “Wonderboy” is no slouch in the wrestling defense department, as seen in the Hendricks fight.

Ahead of UFC 205, he is particularly working with wrestling coach Thomas Lee, Chris Weidman and Matt Miller to become a better wrestler. Thompson states that Woodley’s wrestling “doesn’t scare” him “one bit.”

Thompson is quite aware of what he has to do against Woodley to claim the welterweight title. He plans to keep the fight standing, of course, but expects that he’d be able to pop right back up if taken down. Because he believes Woodley possibly has cardio issues, he understands that weathering the storm and capitalizing in the championship rounds is probably his best chance of winning. But he also said that he has to be “on edge” for the entire fight because Woodley is dangerous every minute of a fight.

All in all, he likes his chances of being successful.

“[Woodley] doesn’t fight very well backing up,” Thompson said. “He does have a mean right hand. He doesn’t throw a whole lot of other techniques. Maybe a few leg kicks every now and then. He’s very explosive. But he tires out very fast, and this is a five-round fight. So I gotta use my movement, use my kicks, stay away from the right hand, [and I’m] obviously working on my takedown defense.

“He may come out swinging out for the fences. That’s OK, because I like that, too. I like when guys come out there and think they’re going to finish me in the first round. But they start doing things they normally wouldn’t do, and that’s when I counter them and land those kicks and land those punches. So it could happen in the first round, [or] it could happen in the fifth round. If the knockout happens it happens, if it doesn’t, I’m ready to go five rounds.

“It should be a very, very rough night for Tyron Woodley.”