After coming up short to Darren Till at UFC ‘Liverpool’ a year ago, Stephen Thompson is eyeing a do-over against “The Gorilla.” That’s because you still won’t convince “Wonderboy” that he didn’t do enough to earn the judges nod that night in England.
And since Till is coming off a knockout loss to Jorge Masvidal (see it), and Stephen is trying to bounce back after getting flatted by Anthony Pettis (highlights), “Wonderboy” says now is as good a time as any to book the rematch.
Speaking of getting caught, Thompson says that is exactly what happened to him and Till in their last respective bouts, since they were clearly winning the fight.
“He got caught just like I got caught,” said Thompson during a recent interview with MMA Fighting. “I was beating Anthony Pettis. I know nine times out of 10 I would have defeated him. It’s just that one time you barely get clipped and down you go. I had Darren Till winning that fight, but in the end Masvidal ended up putting it on him. Then again, Masvidal is a veteran of the game, so you’ve got to be ready at all times, just like Anthony Pettis was.”
Stephen says you have to look no further than when Michael Bisping shocked the world at UFC 199 after he clipped then-Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold with a solid strike to the chin to earn him his first-ever UFC world title (relive it here).
“You gotta be ready in this game,” he added. “Like when Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold. I thought…everybody thought that Luke Rockhold would go out there and just smoke him and then Luke Rockhold got clipped.”
For Stephen, it’s either knock someone out or get knocked out, as he says relying on the judges to bail you out when you’ve clearly won the fight simply isn’t a wise idea.
“When I look back on it I do think I won it, but it’s nothing that really sits on me. Whatever happened happened and all I can do is just keep moving forward,” he added. “I really do think I went out there and put on a show, enough to get that win, but it just goes to show that you can’t leave it in the judges’ hands sometimes. It’s behind me and I’m ready to move forward, just like I am with this fight against Anthony [Pettis],” he concluded.
With the 170-pound landscape changing drastically over the last year, Thompson wants to remind everyone that he isn’t going anywhere despite his two-fight losing streak. And getting revenge on Till is a good way to start proving he is still a legit threat.