Stephen Thompson | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Jorge Masvidal hopes to run it back with ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in UFC return: ‘We’ll put it on for the fans’

Jorge Masvidal wants to run it back with 'Wonderboy' Thompson in UFC return: 'We’ll put it on for the fans' When (not if) Jorge Masvidal makes his triumphant return to the UFC, he hopes to share the Octagon with…

When (not if) Jorge Masvidal makes his triumphant return to the UFC, he hopes to share the Octagon with one of the welterweight division’s most respected stars.

On Saturday, July 6, ‘Gamebred’ will strap on the eight-ounce gloves for a big-money boxing match with former BMF rival Nate Diaz inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

It will be the second time in their respective careers that the ex-UFC icons go toe-to-toe on pay-per-view, the first going down in November 2019 at UFC 244. There, Masvidal went home with a win via a doctor’s stoppage TKO following the third round, claiming the inaugural BMF title in the process.

During a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri of CBS Sports, Masvidal revealed that he has another rematch on his bucket list, though this one would be back inside the Octagon rather than in a boxing ring.

“A fight with ‘Wonderboy’ would be amazing,” Masvidal said when asked about a UFC return. “Definitely, I always wanted to get a rematch with him. Outside of the cage, since I’ve met him since before we fought, I’ve always had so much respect for ‘Wonderboy’ and who he is. He’s actually a good, positive person that’s out to do good.

“He’s a family man, a great guy. You can’t find anybody that will talk bad about him and say that he owes money or is a shady person or whatever. I really respect ‘Wonderboy’, so I would love to break bread with him. Let’s run it, and go in there and just give it all we’ve got… We’ll put it on for the fans. I would love, when I come back at some point, to fight Thompson” (h/t BJPenn.com).

‘Wonderboy’ could be the perfect welcome back fight for jorge masvidal

Stephen Thompson, or ‘Wonderboy’ as fans and fighters have come to know him, is one of the UFC’s most respected stars, having fought a who’s who of top-tier talent during his 14 years and still going career inside the Octagon. Along the way, he’s earned victories over the likes of Robert Whittaker, Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald, Vicente Luque, Geoff Neal, Kevin Holland, and of course, Jorge Masvidal.

Thomspon’s win over Masvidal came at UFC 217, almost two years before ‘Gamebred’ launched himself into superstardom with his iconic knockout of Ben Askren.

In the time since their fight, ‘Wonderboy’ has gone 3-5 while Masvidal stepped away from the UFC following a four-fight losing skid. With both fighters still carrying a ton of name recognition despite being far from title contention, Thompson vs. Masvidal 2 could be the perfect fight to welcome ‘Gamebred’ back to the show and give fans that big fight feel.

Michael Venom Page shuts down ‘Terrible’ fight with Stephen Thompson after UFC 299: ‘I could be wrong’

UFC welterweight Michael Venom Page envisions a ‘boring’ fight against Stephen Thompson should the pair meet in the future. …

UFC welterweight Michael Venom Page envisions a ‘boring’ fight against Stephen Thompson should the pair meet in the future.

Page enjoyed a successful UFC debut last Saturday, convincingly outstriking Kevin Holland over three rounds. Holland refused to stay down despite being stunned throughout the contest after being on the receiving end of some flashy, but vicious strikes from Page.

Michael 'Venom' Page wins Octagon debut in entertaining fight with Kevin Holland - UFC 299 Highlights

Throughout his time in MMA Page has always been a showman, using his karate stance the 36-year-old often likes to throw big shots from the outside, leaping in with jumping knees and other explosive strikes. Page now finds himself in a great to position to push for some big fights at 170lbs given his recent performance and relative name value.

Michael Venom Page unsure of Stephen Thompson fight

Fans have called for Page to step in with fellow striker Stephen Thompson, who is similarly ranked and shares a similar style. However, Page explained that because of their similarity, it would equate to a boring fight.

Michael Venom Page UFC 299 — Mandatory Credit: Chris Unger – Zuffa LLC

“It’s weird because obviously, I’ve been hearing for years before I even got to the UFC and I always tell people the same thing, two positives don’t always make a positive” Michael Venom Page said during an interview with Sportsnet after UFC 299.

1-on-1 with Michael "Venom" Page following his successful UFC debut.

For more UFC 299 coverage, visit https://t.co/SIVYBRx35l pic.twitter.com/f3GBnFBqjn

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 10, 2024

“What will be a great fight for me and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, will look like a terrible fight for everyone else because we’ll go back into auto-pilot of our point-scoring system and there’s a lot of battles that happen without anything really happening.” Page added.

Stephen Thompson hopes to be back paid for UFC 296 fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov — Mandatory Credit: Zuffa LLC

“As soon as I’m about to throw that punch, I can sense that he’s got that counter ready and I might break away,”Page continued. “So, there’s going to be a lot of not much happening in my opinion. I could also be wrong and it could be an amazing fight but from my experience fighting high-level points fighters, it slows everything down.”

Who do you think Michael Venom Page should face next?

UFC CEO Dana White offers one of the Nelk Boys $50,000 to make weight, ‘but won’t pay Wonderboy’

Dana White will hand Nelk Boys handler Gabe Souza $50,000 if he can shed a few pounds over the…

Dana White will hand Nelk Boys handler Gabe Souza $50,000 if he can shed a few pounds over the next few months.

White’s relationship with the Nelk Boys has been a contentious one for MMA fans. Things seemed to reach a boiling point when the UFC CEO gifted one of the YouTube troupe’s founders — Kyle Forgeard — $250,000 for his birthday while the debate over fighter pay continued to rage on.

In a recent video clip shared by Jed I. Goodman on X, White was once again seen offering up a ridiculous sum of money to Souza, the executive assistant of Kyle Forgeard and the Nelk Boys. If he can drop his body weight down to 190 pounds by May 16, White agreed to hand him 50k in cold hard cash.

“May 16, if you come in at 190 pounds, I’m gonna give you $50,000,” White said in the video.

Dana White will give Gabe $50K if he is 190lbs on May 16. pic.twitter.com/X1oFNq5v7B

— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) February 14, 2024

In the clip, it’s revealed that White has already gifted Souza $45,000 during his weight loss journey, meaning if he meets the agreed-upon goal, he will have banked almost 100k in less than a year.

Fight fans online had an understandable reaction to the video and White’s willingness to throw copious amounts of money at the Nelk Boys while many UFC fighters continue to go into debt to pay for their fight camps.

“Dana will pay a Nelk boy for making weight but won’t pay Wonderboy,” one commenter wrote.

“Crazy how Dana throws money at these corny, rich influencers but rostered UFC fighters are fighting for pennies,” another added.

Dana White Defends Not Paying ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson

In July, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thomspon was scheduled to fight Michel Pereira at UFC 291. Pereira stepped on the scale three pounds overweight prompting Thompson to bow out of the contest altogether.

“I made weight this morning as I have done every fight during my 11+ year UFC career,” Thompson wrote in a statement published to his Instagram on July 28. “My opponent did not. This isn’t the first time I’ve had an opponent miss weight and given how that played out previously, myself and my team felt that it’s ultimately not smart for us to move forward with this fight.

“This isn’t a videogame and both of us are putting our health and our careers on the line… Fighters who miss weight face far too few consequences and are often allowed to fight with a significant competitive advantage. This appears to be happening more and more these days. Hopefully, the decision to not move forward with the fight will discourage others from missing weight in the future. I also hope to encourage fighters that face this situation to follow suit and not allow this to happen to them. I’m healthy and I will look to get back in the Octagon [as soon as possible] but on a level playing field…”

Despite showing up for work and making the agreed-upon weight, ‘Wonderboy’ never received his fight purse which prompted backlash from fans.

“So how that works is, guys don’t just get paid to not fight,” White told reporters during a post-fight press conference. “It’s not how that works. Guys have been paid. We’ve taken care of guys. Hey, listen, if you come in, and you’re making short money, we take care of you.

“You come in and you don’t fight — first of all, you decided not to fight. The guy was three pounds overweight, whatever it was, you get a piece of his purse if you take the fight. But if you deter you decide you don’t want to take the fight. We also offered him another fight.”

4 Best Opponents for Colby Covington’s Next Fight

Colby Covington’s fighting future has never been more uncertain. The trash-talking 35-year-old can fairly be called one of the best welterweights of the…

Leon Edwards – Shavkat Rakhmonov opens as pick ’em fight amid links to massive UFC title showdown

Both turning in impressive performance en route to respective victories at UFC 296 earlier this month, markets are currently…

Both turning in impressive performance en route to respective victories at UFC 296 earlier this month, markets are currently even as pick ‘em between undisputed welterweight champion, Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov, amid continued links to a massive title fight between the duo next year.

Edwards, the current undisputed welterweight champion, headlined UFC 296 earlier this month in Las Vegas, Nevada, successfully defending his divisional crown with a comfortable and comprehensive unanimous decision win over former interim champion, Colby Covington.

Earlier on the main card of the same flagship event, unbeaten finisher, Rakhmonov improved to 18-0 as a professional, registeringh is staggering eighteenth straight career finish with a dominant second round rear-naked choke win over veteran former two-time title chaser, Stephen Thompson.

Leon Edwards – Shavkat Rakhmonov opens as pick ’em fight

And amid links to what would come as a blockbuster championship fight next year, Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov are currently sitting at -110 for a title pairing, with markets listing the duo as a pick ‘em fight at the time of publication.

Fans hopeful of landing action on a fight between Leon Edwards and Shavkat Rakhmonov early before a potential fight next year, can place bets on markets including bizzo casino – with many markets and bookies taking bets on the pairing already, including outright winning wagers as a well as a host of prop bets.

Successfully defending his welterweight crown for the second time since his reign began back in August of last year, back in March, Birmingham technician, Leon Edwards landed a close, majority decision win over former pound-for-pound great, Kamaru Usman.

And with his title fight victory against Covington at UFC 296, the Team Renegade BJJ & MMA staple was linked with a title fight rematch against the surging, Belal Muhamamd – who is fresh from a May victory against Gilbert Burns.

However, according to Edwards’ coach, Dave Lovell, a potential fight with Brazilian former title chaser, Burns would be his next chosen fight – rather than a rematch with Muhammad, to many’s questioning.

“If I had a choice who would be next, I would prefer (Gilbert) Burns over Belal (Muhamamd), because I think Burns brings more to the table than Belal,” Dave Lovell said. “Because Leon’s beaten him [Muhammad] – well, I shouldn’t say that, he had the no-constest against Belal. It looked like, you can’t judge it by the first round totally, but it looked like Leon obviously had the first round locked down with Belal and he was going in for the kill [up tunil] the second until the eye poke occurred.”

“But yeah, if I had a choice, overall, I would like Burns, but we’ll take whoever they [the UFC] throw at us,” Lovell finished.

Touted to challenge for welterweight gold next year – if not win the championship outright, Uzbekistan contender, Rakhmonov landed his second straight submission victory this year with his stoppage of Thompson – adding to a highlight-reel third round standing rear-naked choke win over Geoff Neal back in March.

And with his stoppage win earlier this month, Rakhmonov earned himself the number three rank in the official welterweight rankings.

Who wins in a future title pairing: Leon Edwards or Shavkat Rakhmonov?

Stephen Thompson reveals broken foot suffered in UFC 296 loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov: ‘i’ll be back better than ever’

Former two-time welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson has vowed to come back to the Octagon “stronger” than ever amid…

Former two-time welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson has vowed to come back to the Octagon “stronger” than ever amid his one-sided second round rear-naked choke submission loss to the unbeaten, Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 296 last weekend.

Simpsonville striker, Thompson made his return to the Octagon for the first time in over a year at UFC 296 last weekend, suffering a late second round rear-naked choke submission defeat to the undefeated Uzbekistan finishing ace, Rakhmonov.

Prior to that, the former two-time undisputed welterweight title challenger had landed a fourth round corner’s stoppage TKO win over Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Fight Night Orlando back in December of last year.

Stephen Thompson addresses UFC 296 loss

And sharing his thoughts on his submission loss to improving contender, Rakhmonov, veteran striking technician, Thompson vowed to make a return to the Octagon in better form than ever, fearing he may have fractured his foot to boot.

“I appreciate all of your support after the fight this past Saturday,” Stephen Thompson said on his official YouTube channel. “It obviously didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, and that’s why you should always follow the plan, guys. I didn’t follow the plan. That’s my fault.”

“Anyway, I love you guys, and I’ll be back stonger and better than ever,” Stephen Thompson explained. “I have some things to work on and get this foot heald up, and we’ll get after it again. That’s what happens when you don’t follow the game plan. You get submitted in the second round. I actually came out of the fight pretty much unscathed, other than the fact that I think I broke my foot in a body kick right to the elbow. Don’t kick your opponent to the elbow because that sucks.”

What’s next for Stephen Thompson after UFC 296?