Stephen Thompson’s former coach believes his age influenced judges at UFC Nashville

Stephen Thompson’s former coach Ray Longo believes his age influenced the judges in the co-main event of UFC Nashville.

Last Saturday night, Stephen Thompson went up against Gabriel Bonfim in the co-main event of UFC Nashville. It was a tightly contested bout but in the eyes of many, ‘Wonderboy’ did enough to get his hand raised. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and the veteran instead fell to a split decision defeat courtesy of the judges.

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Of course, Thompson took it in his stride as he always does, but it was certainly a shame to see him fall given how well he was able to perform. At the very least, though, he proved that he’s still capable of putting on a great performance at the age of 42.

In a recent interview, the aforementioned Ray Longo suggested that Thompson’s age played a factor in the decision.

Longo’s view on Thompson’s loss

“He 100 percent won the fight,” Longo said.

“You know what the problem is that I have? It’s conspiratorial, but if Stephen was 34 years old, and he was on the come up, he’s winning that fight. They give it to him. That’s my honest belief, it’s almost like [Paddy] Pimblett against Jared Gordon. The guy went in, in the third round, trying not to fight. Not even to try to take him down. And the only damage in the third round was done by Wonderboy Thompson, and that’s why he wins that fight.

“If you go on damage, he’s the guy with the damage… they f—– that up. I’m not saying complete robbery, but it’s a robbery based on the criteria. The other guy went out there not to fight…[Bonfim] lost that fight. How does it benefit him? It’s almost disgraceful, come on man, he did what he had to do to win that fight.”

Quotes via Bloody Elbow