Tag: Stephen Wonderboy Thompson

Stephen Thompson Calls Out Robbie Lawler For 2019

Stephen Thompson wants his crack at “The Ruthless One.”

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It looks like Stephen Thompson wants a crack at Robbie Lawler.

The former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger took to Twitter today (Mon. September 24, 2018) and called out “Ruthless.” He said he’ll be ready for a potential fight with the former welterweight champion in early 2019:

“I heard your going to be ready early next year I know a guy who will be ready then too…Let’s give the fans what they want! I’m bringing the heat back, and you know this fight will be FIRE!”

Thompson has dropped two of his last three contests. In his initial title opportunity back in 2016, Thompson went to a Draw with Tyron Woodley. They rematched four months later, only for Woodley to defeat Thompson via Majority Decision. “Wonderboy” bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Jorge Masvidal.

This past May, Thompson was bested by Darren Till via unanimous decision in Liverpool. After dealing with an injury for the past several months, Thompson seems like he’ll be ready to go in early 2019.

Lawler is in a very similar situation to Thompson. He has also lost two of his last three fights. Tyron Woodley knocked Lawler out to end his 170-pound title reign in 2016. Lawler had a successful return against Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone one-year later, defeating him via unanimous decision.

“The Ruthless One” then welcomed former 155-pound champion Rafael dos Anjos into the welterweight division in December. The Brazilian dominated Lawler en-route to a unanimous decision victory. Given their similar situations, a match-up between Thompson and Lawler makes excellent sense at this point

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Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson Calls for Fight Against Robbie Lawler Next

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson has never hidden his desire to face former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. Prior to back-to-back fights against current champ Tyron Woodley, Thompson had actually predicted Lawler to retain the belt in …

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson has never hidden his desire to face former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. Prior to back-to-back fights against current champ Tyron Woodley, Thompson had actually predicted Lawler to retain the belt in hopes that the would face off with the title on the line. Lawler ultimately lost the title to Woodley before […]

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Colby Covington Calls Out Tyron Woodley For Huge UFC PPV

In news that should surprise no one, former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington has called out Tyron Woodley in the hours following last night’s UFC 228 from Dallas. There, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley submitted rising star Darren Till with a dominant, impressive showing in the main event, a fight Covington should have probably had. […]

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In news that should surprise no one, former interim UFC welterweight champion Colby Covington has called out Tyron Woodley in the hours following last night’s UFC 228 from Dallas.

There, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley submitted rising star Darren Till with a dominant, impressive showing in the main event, a fight Covington should have probably had. “Chaos” won the interim belt by defeating Rafael dos Anjos in the co-main event of June’s UFC 225 and was thought to be headed for his inevitable rivalry with Woodley.

Covington couldn’t fight at UFC 228 due to sinus surgery, however, so the fight went to Till. When Woodley sent him back down the ranks, Covington was predictably there to call for the fight he missed for a bigger stage later this year:

Woodley is none too high on granting Covington a title shot because he claims the outspoken wrestler had the fight but ‘bitched out.’

He may have that stance alongside many other fans, yet the bout still seems like the most entertaining match-up to make at 170 pounds.

It’s safe to assume “Chaos” knows it, too, so don’t be surprised to see this rivalry get fired up again soon.

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Stephen Thompson: Darren Till Doesn’t Deserve Title Fight With Tyron Woodley

Does Darren Till deserve his UFC 228 title fight?

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Stephen Thompson doesn’t think Darren Till deserves his UFC 228 title fight with Tyron Woodley.

This past May, Till took home a controversial unanimous decision win over Thompson. Till missed weight by quite a sizable margin for the welterweight affair. The fight was close, however, when it was all said and done the judges determined Till did enough to earn the nod in front of his native Liverpool crowd.

As a result, Till was granted a UFC welterweight title opportunity against Tyron Woodley. They will main event UFC 228 on pay-per-view (PPV) next weekend. Due to Till missing weight in his last fight, however, much has been made about his title opportunity.

Thompson joined Submission Radio recently and offered his thoughts on the matter. “Wonderboy” divulged that he doesn’t think Till is deserving of the title opportunity:

“Do I think he deserves it? No. I really don’t. This is a professional sport, and making weight is part of the job. You agreed to make the weight. I mean, it’s like the Robert Whittaker and Yoel Romero.

“You know, if you don’t make weight, you don’t fight for the title. I think it should be the same. If you don’t make weight, you don’t move up the rankings. It’s part of the job. You signed a contract to be that way, and my god, you should make it, you should make it.

“And he was bragging about it weeks before the fight how he’s this massive 170(-pounder), how the UFC shouldn’t be allowing the fight. Which made him look even worse because he didn’t make weight. And that was 171.”

Thompson doesn’t believe Till is able to make the title fight limit of 170 pounds because of it. He believes the Liverpudlian pushes the limits because there are no consequences for it:

“I mean, how is he gonna make 170? So yeah, man, I would definitely be questioning that as a fan, but also as the UFC. So, for him to be actually fighting for the title, man… and they’re wondering why people aren’t making weight.

“Because there’s no consequences. Yeah sure, he wasn’t getting paid much for that fight, so of course he won’t make weight. Give 20 or 30 percent or whatever it was to move up the rankings.”

Thompson admitted it was worth it to get it a big fight because there is little punishment for missing weight:

“So now, I mean, he’s probably getting crazy money to fight now, so I bet it was worth it. And the UFC is like, why aren’t these guys making weight? Because there’s no consequences. You know, no real consequences.

“A lot of people will give them 30 percent and move up the rankings cause their next fight will be more money. It’s just a sacrifice at the moment for a bigger gain later on.”

Thompson’s being targeted for a big welterweight match-up next year. The UFC is reportedly aiming to pair up “Wonderboy” with Robbie Lawler in January. A victory over “The Ruthless One” would certainly be enough to get Thompson back into the title conversation.

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“Wonderboy” Reveals Style Change After Close Loss To Darren Till

We could see a completely new Stephen Thompson next time out.

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The scorecards haven’t been too favorable to Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in his last several Octagon outings.

Thompson, a two-time UFC welterweight title challenger, has seen unfavorable results in four out of his last five fights, which have all gone to the scorecards. The first was ruled a draw with Tyron Woodley in a rousing ‘Fight of the Night’-winning affair at UFC 205 for the 170-pound title.

In their rematch at UFC 209 several months later, the pair again went the distance in what was widely received as an extremely uneventful affair for the most part, but Woodley earned a majority decision nod. Thompson then picked up a unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal last November before dropping another decision, this time a unanimous one, to Darren Till in Liverpool, England on May 27.

Recently speaking to MMA Junkie, “Wonderboy” admitted that he and his father discussed a possible switch-up in style going forward in attempt to correct this:

“That’s something I talked about with my pops right after this last fight,” Thompson said.

“There’s always something you can work on, but just change some stuff up. Work different techniques that I’ve been wanting to work on a whole lot more, than I don’t usually throw when I fight. Just to keep them guessing. My last few losses were controversial. I’ve got to do more. I can’t leave it in the judge’s hands anymore.”

Thompson is arguably the best pure striker the UFC has to offer. If he adopted more of an aggressive style rather than his traditionally conservative karate roots, some believe he might become one of the promotion’s more frequent finishers.

Keeping that in mind, Thompson said that simply isn’t his style but agrees that might need to change in his next fight:

“Sometimes people say, ‘You’ve got to go out there and grit your teeth and just throw,’” Thompson said. “That’s never been my style, but I think I need to be a little bit more aggressive instead of counterpunching. There are other parts of the game I can go work on to keep my opponent guessing.

“Everyone I fight in the future is going to be like, ‘All right, he doesn’t do too well with guys that aggressive.’ There are going to be different techniques we can work on so we don’t leave it in the judge’s hands. I know I can say that, but I’ve just got to go out there and I can’t make it close anymore.”

“Wonderboy” then teased working on his wrestling and jiu-jitsu a bit more, and perhaps implementing those skills in the Octagon on a more regular basis as well:

“I’m definitely going to work on some techniques that hopefully will throw my opponents off and really allow me to open up whenever I’m out there fighting,” Thompson said. “I’m definitely going to work on my wrestling and jiu-jitsu a little more and you never know.

“The next fight you may see a little bit more of that. I work it religiously, but when I’m out there fighting I just don’t use it enough. I’ve got to go out there and use some of that. I’m a better, well-rounded fighter than people think.”

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Wonderboy Reveals Potentially Serious Knee Injury From Till Fight

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

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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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