Ex-UFC champion Kamaru Usman offers to fight Stephen Thompson in return: ‘He needs an opponent’
Former undisputed welterweight champion and pound-for-pound number one ranked UFC fighter, Kamaru Usman has made an offer to fight fellow division veteran, Stephen Thompson in his return to the Octagon – following the latter’s recent cancelled return at UFC 291 over the weekend.
Usman, the current number one ranked welterweight contender under the banner of the UFC, has been sidelined since he took main event honors at UFC 286 back in March of this year in London, England – suffering a close, majority decision loss to champion, Leon Edwards in the pair’s trilogy rubber match.
As for Thompson, the Simpsonville native was scheduled to feature on the main card of UFC 291 over the weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah – seeing his slated fight with Michel Pereira shelved after the Brazilian missed weight by four pounds for the matchup in ‘The Beehive State’.
And yet to receive any show money from the promotion for his successful weigh-in at UFC 291, Thompson admitted he remained confident the organization would do right by him.
Kamaru Usman offers to fight Stephen Thompson in Octagon return
Plotting his own return to the Octagon after a potential fight with Khamzat Chimaev fell to the wayside, Usman has now offered to fight Thompson in his own comeback to active competition as he looks to snap a two-fight losing skid.
“The only guys, to be honest, that would even make sense right now are ‘Wonderboy’ (Stephen Thompson – he needs an opponent,” Kamaru Usman told TMZ. “‘Wonderboy’ has been around so long, and he’s just that name, to where it’s always a great fight.”
“His style is very, very difficult to fight,” Kamaru Usman explained. “And you know, he’s just one of those names that I never got – who was in my era, who I never got to fight. So, I think ‘Wonderboy’ – so I would definitely consider that.”
