Tag: Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson Eyes Fight With Former Champion At Upcoming UFC Event

Stephen Thompson is eyeing a certain fight for his UFC return.

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Former title contender Stephen Thompson is eyeing a certain fight for his UFC return.

As seen in the main event of UFC Liverpool event that aired live on FOX Sports 1 at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England, rising prospect Darren Till picked up a unanimous decision win over former title contender.

This marked a win Till’s own backyard. Shortly after the fight, Thompson revealed that he suffered a knee injury midway through the second round after eating a kick.

Thompson reflected on how the injury occurred as well as finding out that he tore his MCL on a recent episode of the Slip n’ Dip podcast.

“In the second round he was really focused on kicking me in the knee,” Thompson said (transcript courtesy of MMANytt). “He ended up hitting me in the knee, hyper-extending my knee and I ended up tearing my MCL. So in the fight, all the knee I had the injuries on, I’ve had four surgeries on my left knee and two on my right.

“About ten years I tore every ligament in my left leg and so after he hit it, I could feel some crunching going on so I backed up and I shook it off. I don’t think I should’ve done that because I think he realized that he was hurting me so he kept going for it.”

“They told me six to eight weeks minimum,” Thompson said. “I’m taking it easy on my knee, but I’m still back into training, sitting in a chair and hitting the bag man. I’m always keeping ice on my leg, so hopefully by the end of the year I will have something set up. That’s with my fingers crossed, that’s what I want.”

With Thompson just fighting the #7 ranked fighter in the division and his own ranking dropping from #1 to #3, Thompson is hoping to face a higher ranked opponent next.

In fact, he has a potential opponent and date for his next fight, which would be against former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at the upcoming UFC 230 pay-per-view event in November at Madison Square Garden.

“I dunno man, I want to fight someone in the top 5,” Thompson said. “I got bumped down to #3. You got Robbie Lawler, hopefully, maybe things will just right because I know he had knee surgery a few months back so hopefully things will go just right and the timings work out so we could face each other or something.

“I got fans all the time asking me ‘why don’t you fight Robbie Lawler?’ I think, I got a lot of respect for him and it would be a barnburner.

“He’s just stands there and wants to bang it out. I love fighting guys like that — without getting hit in the knee of course. Hopefully we can get that shot at MSG, that would be sick.”

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Wonderboy Reveals Potentially Serious Knee Injury From Till Fight

“Wonderboy” says those knee kicks really took a toll…

The post Wonderboy Reveals Potentially Serious Knee Injury From Till Fight appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson lost a competitive fight to hometown favorite Darren Till in Liverpool last weekend, and Till injured “Wonderboy’s” knee midway through the fight, which Thompson says made it difficult to move the way he wanted to move.

The fight was almost entirely contested on the feet, as the karateka and Muay Thai practitioner went to work for five long rounds. Till worked some effected kicks to “Wonderboy’s” knee before scoring a knockdown later in the fight.

“Wonderboy” admits those knee kicks from Till took their toll, and the injury to his left knee, which he’s had multiple surgeries on in the past, made it impossible for him to get his game going, Thompson revealed on The MMA Hour:

“It was almost like this dude was trying to put me out. He hit me in the knee and after that my movement was pretty much out the window. I was more focused on keeping my knee — it was just another thing to think about out there.”

“Hopefully it’s nothing major. But it sucks, man. It really does. Disappointed by the whole situation and then coming out of it with an injury like that, it makes it all worse. It was more trying to keep my leg from collapsing than anything. It just really felt unstable in that fifth round.

“I was trying to hit the guy hard, I really was. I just was unable to put myself in a situation to do so.”

Till took home a unanimous decision victory, although many fight fans and fellow fighters believe “Wonderboy” should have taken the judges’ decision.

Till ended up weighing in several pounds overweight the day before the fight and was forced to stay under 188 pounds on fight day. He managed to do so, and the fight went on as scheduled.

While the two looked to basically be the same size, “Wonderboy” concedes that Till is definitely thicker and sturdier than he looks:

“When you make contact [with an opponent], you can tell you’re pretty much the same size,” he said. “When I would kick or even side kick or even try to punch Darren Till, you could tell that he was a pretty solid dude. You can’t really see it in his upper body, but you can see it in his lower body. He’s thick — thick guy.”

What do you think of this kind of knee kicks employed by Jon Jones, Darren Till and the like?

Are they a cheap tactic designed solely injure a fighter unfairly, or is it just a legitimate MMA technique?

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Commissioner Sounds Off On Darren Till’s Brutal Weight Cut Video

This commissioner may have a good point:

The post Commissioner Sounds Off On Darren Till’s Brutal Weight Cut Video appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

The harrowing video of Darren Till’s UFC Liverpool weight cut is causing a stir in the MMA world.

The 25-year-old rising star missed weight by three-and-a-half pounds before his main event bout against Stephen Thompson in his home city of Liverpool, England, forcing him to pay 30 percent of his purse to “Wonderboy” and weigh in at no more than 188 pounds on fight day.

He did those things and went on to win a close, controversial unanimous decision over Till in a call many are still calling hometown cooking almost a week later. However, when video of Till cutting weight (he’s known as the biggest welterweight in the UFC by a sizable margin) was released by his sponsor Paddy Power, a controversy of a different kind arose.

With weight misses seemingly an all-too-common theme at early weigh-ins for every UFC card and the health impacts of huge cuts a growing hot topic in MMA, a prominent combats sports commissioner is calling for Till’s corner to be suspended for putting his health in jeopardy.

Mike Mazzulli, the chief of the Association of Boxing Commissions and the director of the Mohegan Tribe Department of Athletic Regulation, told MMAjunkie that Till’s weight cut, where he reportedly lost his vision momentarily and used “colonic hydrotherapy” to lose more weight, that another death from weight cutting is a foregone conclusion if people like Till’s corner continue allowing fighters to go to such extremes. Because of that, he believes Till’s corner should be suspended:

“I was appalled seeing seven people sit there and push this kid to the point where he lost his vision.

“They should suspend those corner people that tried to help him cut that kind of weight, first of all,” he said.

With the video causing so much discussion, the UFC is reportedly investigating Till’s cut. California State Athletic Commission Executive Director Andy Foster, who has long championed efforts to make weight cutting safer in MMA, also plans to make a statement on the disturbing video.

There was talk it’s already time for Till to move up to middleweight even when it’s only known that he missed weight a second time, and the video obviously makes matters significantly worse. If Till were fighting under Mazzulli’s licensing jurisdiction, he said he would have to provide him with a doctor’s note that it was safe for him to compete at welterweight.

But ultimately, he said it was a fighter’s team’s responsibility to protect the safety of their athlete:

“They think it’s OK to do what they did to that kid? They’re going to get him killed,” he said. “Right now, I am so upset at this whole industry.”

Mazzulli closed by saying that the death of a fighter could follow if steps aren’t taken to reduce such drastic cuts, something that would be completely pointless and ridiculous considering it wasn’t even in a fight:

“You’re going to be sitting there with a girlfriend, with parents, who lost their kid to something so stupid, for no apparent reason,” Mazzulli said. “What’s going to happen is you’re going to have a mother and a father losing their child over weight-cutting to fight – not in a fight.”

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Colby Covington Rips Darren Till and Stephen Thompson Over ‘Hug Fest’ Fight

Colby Covington was clearly not a fan of the welterweight bout between Darren Till and Stephen Thompson. Even though Covington has the biggest fight thus far in his pro-MMA career lined up, he was keeping a close eye on this fight as there is a good ch…

Colby Covington was clearly not a fan of the welterweight bout between Darren Till and Stephen Thompson. Even though Covington has the biggest fight thus far in his pro-MMA career lined up, he was keeping a close eye on this fight as there is a good chance that he may have to fight the winner […]

The post Colby Covington Rips Darren Till and Stephen Thompson Over ‘Hug Fest’ Fight appeared first on MMA News.

UFC Rankings Update: Darren Till Soars Following Controversial Win

Did Darren Till deserve this massive boost?

The post UFC Rankings Update: Darren Till Soars Following Controversial Win appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Darren Till has completed a massive rise up the rankings, but it’s sure to be controversial.

The 25-year-old future star won a close and controversial unanimous decision over former title contender Stephen Thompson in the main event of last weekend’s (Sun. May 27, 2018) UFC Liverpool, a fight that’s largely dominated recent MMA headlines for its head-scratching result.

It was a bout short on much relevant action following a ton of hype for the UFC’s debut in Liverpool, yet many questioned if Till truly deserved the victory overall, as he lacked many clear moments of offense. Two 49-46 scores in his favor were egregious if we’re honest, and many prominent MMA personalities have weighed in with the same opinion more or less.

However, that apparently doesn’t matter to the media members who vote on the official UFC rankings. Previous No. 8 Till rose a ridiculous six spots to No. 2 on the latest update, jumping him ahead of previous No. 3 Colby Covington, who will meet Rafael dos Anjos for the interim belt at June 9’s UFC 225, following a highly debatable decision in a fight that certainly didn’t deliver on the sizable buzz it brought.

The contentious victory also had a cascading effect on much of the Top 10 at 170 pounds, with Thompson dropping two spots to No. 3, Robbie Lawler dropping two spots to No. 5, Kamaru Usman and Demian Maia dropping one spot apiece to Nos. 6 and 7, respectively, and Jorge Masvidal falling two spots to No. 9. Neil Magny rose one spot to No. 8 for his TKO win against short-notice replacement Craig White in the UFC Liverpool co-main event.

In other rankings movement, the middleweight division saw a decent shakeup after Michael Bisping somewhat surprisingly announced his retirement this week.

Do you agree with Till’s massive rise for his not-so-impressive ‘win’?

Check out the full updated rankings via UFC.com here:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Georges St-Pierre
3 Conor McGregor
3 Stipe Miocic
5 Daniel Cormier
6 Max Holloway
7 TJ Dillashaw
8 Tyron Woodley
9 Khabib Nurmagomedov
10 Cris Cyborg
11 Tony Ferguson
12 Amanda Nunes
13 Robert Whittaker
14 Cody Garbrandt
15 Rose Namajunas

FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Ray Borg
4 Jussier Formiga
5 Sergio Pettis
6 John Moraga
7 Wilson Reis
8 Alexandre Pantoja
9 Brandon Moreno
10 Dustin Ortiz
11 Ben Nguyen
12 Matheus Nicolau
13 Tim Elliott
14 Deiveson Figueiredo
15 Magomed Bibulatov

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: TJ Dillashaw
1 Cody Garbrandt
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Jimmie Rivera
5 Marlon Moraes
6 John Lineker
7 John Dodson
8 Aljamain Sterling
9 Bryan Caraway
10 Pedro Munhoz
11 Cody Stamann
12 Rob Font
13 Thomas Almeida
14 Brett Johns
15 Eddie Wineland

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion: Max Holloway
1 Brian Ortega
2 Jose Aldo
3 Frankie Edgar
4 Jeremy Stephens
5 Cub Swanson
6 Josh Emmett
7 Ricardo Lamas
8 Chan Sung Jung
9 Renato Moicano
10 Darren Elkins
11 Mirsad Bektic
12 Zabit Magomedsharipov
13 Myles Jury
14 Dooho Choi
15 Calvin Kattar

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov
1 Conor McGregor
2 Tony Ferguson
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Dustin Poirier
5 Kevin Lee
6 Edson Barboza
7 Justin Gaethje
8 Nate Diaz
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Al Iaquinta
11 James Vick
12 Anthony Pettis
13 Alexander Hernandez
14 Paul Felder
15 Olivier Aubin-Mercier

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion: Tyron Woodley
1 Rafael Dos Anjos +1
2 Darren Till +6
3 Stephen Thompson -2
4 Colby Covington -1
5 Robbie Lawler -2
6 Kamaru Usman -1
7 Demian Maia -1
8 Neil Magny +1
9 Jorge Masvidal -2
10 Santiago Ponzinibbio
11 Donald Cerrone
12 Gunnar Nelson
13 Leon Edwards +1
14 Alex Oliveira -1
15 Dong Hyun Kim

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion: Robert Whittaker
1 Yoel Romero
2 Luke Rockhold
3 Chris Weidman
4 Kelvin Gastelum
5 Jacare Souza
6 Derek Brunson +1
7 David Branch +1
8 Lyoto Machida +1
8 Brad Tavares +1
10 Uriah Hall +1
11 Antonio Carlos Junior +1
12 Thiago Santos
13 Paulo Costa +1
14 Elias Theodorou +1
15 Krzysztof Jotko *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Daniel Cormier
1 Alexander Gustafsson
2 Volkan Oezdemir
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Ilir Latifi
5 Jan Blachowicz
6 Jimi Manuwa
7 Mauricio Rua
7 Ovince Saint Preux
9 Corey Anderson
10 Misha Cirkunov
11 Patrick Cummins
12 Dominick Reyes
13 Gadzhimurad Antigulov
14 Tyson Pedro
15 Gian Villante

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion: Stipe Miocic
1 Francis Ngannou
2 Alistair Overeem
3 Alexander Volkov
4 Curtis Blaydes
5 Derrick Lewis +1
6 Mark Hunt +1
7 Junior Dos Santos +8
8 Marcin Tybura
9 Andrei Arlovski
10 Aleksei Oleinik
11 Stefan Struve
12 Tai Tuivasa
13 Shamil Abdurakhimov
14 Justin Willis
15 Junior Albini *NR

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion: Rose Namajunas
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Jessica Andrade
3 Claudia Gadelha
4 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
5 Tecia Torres
6 Carla Esparza
7 Michelle Waterson
8 Felice Herrig
9 Tatiana Suarez
10 Cortney Casey
11 Alexa Grasso
12 Randa Markos
13 Nina Ansaroff
14 Joanne Calderwood
15 Angela Hill

WOMEN’S FLYWEIGHT
Champion: Nicco Montano
1 Valentina Shevchenko
2 Sijara Eubanks
3 Lauren Murphy
4 Alexis Davis
5 Katlyn Chookagian
6 Barb Honchak
7 Liz Carmouche
8 Roxanne Modafferi
9 Jessica-Rose Clark
10 Jessica Eye
11 Ashlee Evans-Smith
12 Andrea Lee
13 Mara Romero Borella
14 Paige VanZant
15 Gillian Robertson *NR

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion: Amanda Nunes
1 Holly Holm
2 Ketlen Vieira
3 Julianna Pena
4 Raquel Pennington
5 Germaine de Randamie
6 Cat Zingano
7 Marion Reneau
8 Sara McMann
9 Aspen Ladd
10 Bethe Correia
11 Lina Lansberg +3
12 Irene Aldana -1
13 Lucie Pudilova -1
14 Sarah Moras -1
15 Gina Mazany

The post UFC Rankings Update: Darren Till Soars Following Controversial Win appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Ray Longo Believes Darren Till ‘Did Nothing’ Against Stephen Thompson

Ray Longo was surprised as many were when Darren Till was awarded a unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson. Till shared the Octagon with Thompson in the main event of UFC Liverpool. The bout took place inside the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England….

Ray Longo was surprised as many were when Darren Till was awarded a unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson. Till shared the Octagon with Thompson in the main event of UFC Liverpool. The bout took place inside the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England. There was controversy before the fight even began. Till missed weight by […]

The post Ray Longo Believes Darren Till ‘Did Nothing’ Against Stephen Thompson appeared first on MMA News.