UFC welterweight Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is as popular among his opponents as he is with fans. Thompson seems to have his pick of callouts, with various upcoming fighters like Ian Garry and Jack Della Maddalena calling him out in recent months.
However, one major name has turned Thompson’s head: former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, reacting positively to a callout from the “Nigerian Nightmare.”
Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson Reacts To Kamaru Usman UFC Callout
Thompson, now 40 years old, isn’t interested in the rapid turnarounds frequently offered to him by the UFC. “I told UFC, ‘Look, I’ll fight the JDMs, I will fight the Ian Garrys, just give me a full training camp.’
And then a few days later, lo and behold tomorrow, Kamaru Usman calls me out? Let’s freaking go!” Thompson continued.
“I mean, I was willing to fight the JDMs, the Ian Garrys, the Shavkat [Rakhmanovs], but then you got the guy, the No. 1 contender, the former UFC champ, one of the greatest fighters, called me out.
This was a guy I thought I would face one day and never did, and I think he was thinking the same thing, and I was just like, ‘Let’s make this fight happen. Are you kidding me?’
I’ve been fighting [lower-ranked fighters] since Tyron Woodley — apart from Gilbert Burns — to be honest with you. I’ve been fighting those thirteens — the Geoff Neals, the Vicente Luques, the Belal Muhammads, you know, try to get that fight with Michel Pereira, who I think was 15 or 13 … giving these guys a shot.
I want to show the UFC — and not just the UFC, the fans — that I’m not a gatekeeper. I’ve got a small window to kind of do what I want to do with the fight game.
I’m 40 years old, and when I see a chance to go for another title shot before it’s over, when Kamar Usman calls me out, I’m like, dude, no brainer. No brainer.
I mean, yes, Gilbert Burns beat me. Yes, Belal Muhammad beat me. But I’ve never faced a guy that beat me the way that they beat me before.
So I learned a lot from those two fights and [have been] working on it ever since, and this is my opportunity to show the UFC and the fans and fighters out there that I got what it takes to go for that title again, that I got what it takes to face those guys in the top five, in the top three, the No. 1 contender, that I can fight for the title again.”
