Stephen Thompson News

Tom Taylor - August 31, 2018

On September 8, in the main event of UFC 228 in Dallas, Texas, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will attempt to defend his title against undefeated challenger Darren Till. As the only common opponent between the two men, two-time welterweight title Stephen Thompson has unique insight into the matchup. Thompson broke down the UFC 228 main event on the latest episode of Submission Radio. In his eyes, both fighters have definite paths to victory heading into the fight.

Drake Riggs - August 31, 2018

In professional sports, one thing is always expected of the athletes. And that’s professionalism. I mean…it’s kind of a part of the gig. In combat sports, there are multiple ways for one to show their professionalism but most commonly it comes in the form of getting to the fight. And to do that, one has to come in at the agreed upon weight.

Tom Taylor - August 27, 2018

Over the weekend, it was reported that a welterweight contender bout between former champion Robbie Lawler and former title challenger Stephen Thompson was in the works for the UFC’s January 18 debut on ESPN. Shortly thereafter, another report suggested that a flyweight bout between Paige VanZant and Rachael Ostovich was in the works for this inaugural UFC on ESPN card. From the sounds of it, we can pump the breaks on both of these potential bookings.

Chris Taylor - August 25, 2018

Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler will return to action this January against perennial division contender Stephen Thompson. MMAJunkie‘s Mike Bohn was first to report the key welterweight matchup.

Tom Taylor - July 3, 2018

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson didn’t have to fly across the Atlantic to battle rising prospect Darren Till in his hometown of Liverpool, and he sure as heck didn’t have to fight Till after he missed weight for the fight. But he did, and for that, UFC President Dana White was very thankful. In fact, White even assured post-fight that the UFC would “do everything we can to give [Thompson] what he wants” in return for his sacrifices. Thompson is hoping Dana White and the UFC will keep their word. He’s hoping to cash in the favor he’s owed, and bring the UFC to his home state of South Carolina — an unexplored territory for the promotion. If he can bring the UFC to South Carolina — particularly to the city of Greenville — he’s hoping to battle former champion Robbie Lawler in the main event.

Tom Taylor - June 28, 2018

If you look at Stephen Thompson’s recent record, you will see he’s recently fought Tyron Woodley to a draw, given up a decision in a rematch with Woodley, and given up a decision to Darren Till. In the eyes of some fans — and of course Thompson’s team — he should have won all of those fights. In order to avoid disappointing judges’ decisions going forward, Thompson says he plans to adjust his fighting style in an effort to improve his chances of scoring a stoppage.

Chris Taylor - June 23, 2018

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson suffered a unanimous decision loss to Darren Till last month in Liverpool, England. The scorecards for the fight were marred in controversy after two of the judges in attendance scored the fight 49-46 for the hometown favorite Darren Till, this while the majority of the mixed martial arts community appeared to have scored the bout 48-47 in favor of Thompson.

Chris Taylor - June 23, 2018

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson thinks it would be “awesome” if the UFC decided to implement some new weight classes. With that said, “Wonderboy” doesn’t expect the leading mixed martial arts promotion to be adding new divisions anytime soon.

Chris Taylor - June 16, 2018

UFC welterweight standout Stephen Thompson (14-3-1 MMA) has two former champions in mind for his next octagon appearance. “Wonderboy” recently sat down with BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor where he discussed not only his timetable for return but also who he is aiming to fight in his next outing.

Chris Taylor - June 16, 2018

Former two-time UFC title challenger Stephen Thompson (14-3-1 MMA) suffered a controversial decision setback to surging division contender Darren Till last month in Liverpool. Having finally watched his most recent octagon appearance, Stephen Thompson sat down with BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor to discuss his takeaways from the UFC Liverpool headliner and what went wrong during his five-round battle with Darren Till.

Chris Taylor - June 16, 2018

Stephen Thompson (14-3-1 MMA) is very familiar with current UFC welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley. “Wonderboy” has challenged Woodley for his welterweight title on two separate occasions, falling just short of claiming the promotions coveted 170-pound strap in both of those aforementioned attempts.

Chris Taylor - June 16, 2018

Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (14-3-1 MMA) is coming off a controversial decision loss to Darren Till which occurred last month in Liverpool, England. The Thompson vs. Till fight, which headlined UFC Fight Night 130, almost didn’t happen after the Liverpool native badly missed weight by coming in 3.5 pounds over the non-title welterweight limit of 171-pounds.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2018

Last weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Liverpool, hometown hero Darren Till picked up the biggest win of his career, defeating two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson by decision. Not everybody, however, agreed with this result. Shortly after the judges’ verdict was read, there was an outpouring of criticism suggesting that Thompson, not Till, should have been awarded the victory.

Tom Taylor - May 28, 2018

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Liverpool, England, two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson gave up a razor close decision to hometown hero Darren Till. Though Till landed more overall strikes and significant strikes, and scored the only knockdown of the fight, many onlookers felt Thompson did enough to earn the judges’ favor in this welterweight chess match. Thompson himself shares this opinion, but as always, has been pure class in defeat, and is determined not to take anything away from Till’s big win.

Tom Taylor - May 27, 2018

A key welterweight scrap featuring two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson (14-2-1) and undefeated contender Darren Till (16-0-1) headlined Sunday’s action-packed UFC Liverpool card. Darren Till missed weight for this main event battle, but “Wonderboy” agreed to continue on with the contest with the stipulations that he received 30% of Till’s purse, and that Till weighed in at 188 pounds or less at 1:00pm local time on fight day. After all of this pre-fight chaos, the fight went down as an absolute chess match, as the two world class strikers spent five incredibly close rounds attempting to figure one another out.

Chris Taylor - May 27, 2018

A key welterweight fight between former two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson (14-2-1 MMA) and undefeated contender Darren Till (16-0-1 MMA) headlined today’s UFC Fight Night 130 event in Liverpool, England. Darren Till missed weight for the contest (174.5 pounds) and was forced to forfeit 30% of his fight purse to “Wonderboy”.

Tom Taylor - May 25, 2018

Stephen Thompson, who holds the number-one spot in the UFC welterweight rankings, is confident that he’ll be too much for his UFC Liverpool opponent, eighth-ranked welterweight Darren Till. “That’s what I’m out there to prove to the fans and everybody around the world,” Thompson told Damon Martin of MMAWeekly. “There are levels to this. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to do work. You’re going to see the level of that No. 1 and No. 8. UFC’s giving him a chance so I know he’s going to be coming prepared. Anybody in the UFC has a chance to knock you out. So I’m not going to take this guy lightly.”

Tom Taylor - May 21, 2018

Stephen Thompson, who battles surging British contender Darren Till in the main event of the UFC’s Saturday night debut in Liverpool, England, is not a fan of the UFC’s choice to crown an interim welterweight champion. It’s his belief that by crowning the winner of Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington’s UFC 225 battle the interim welterweight champ, the promotion diminishes the value of the actual welterweight belt, which is currently owned by Tyron Woodley. “I don’t think so at all,” Thompson told BloodyElbow last week, when asked if he believed an interim title needed to be created. “If [Woodley]’s out for another year or two, then probably yeah, I think you should. But if he’s saying he’s gonna be back in July or August, there’s no reason why you should be fighting for an interim title.”