Khamzat Chimaev Calls Out Stephen Thompson: ‘We Fighting Next’
Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson took to twitter to call out Leon Edwards for a fight. Wonderboy believes the matchup would ‘make sense’ and is a ‘great match up’. Both Thompson and Edwards are ranked in the top 5 in the welterweight division and both fighters are looking to return to the octagon soon.
However, rising star Khamzat Chimaev has other plans and told Thompson to ‘leave Leon alone’ as him and Wonderboy are fighting next. Chimaev is coming off his biggest victory in the octagon yet by knocking out Middleweight Gerald Meerschaert in 17 seconds at UFC Vegas 11, and it seems he has his sight set on the number 5 ranked welterweight next.
Chimaev is 3-0 in the UFC with three stoppages, and was supposed to fight Demian Maia next. However, now it seems the UFC is trying to get him another match up first. The ‘Wolf’ is now targeting big fights against ranked welterweight contenders. He recently stated, via Twitter, that he wanted either Jorge Masvidal, Colby Covington, Leon Edwards, Stephen Thompson or Demian Maia next but now it seems he wants Wonderboy next out of all these names. If Chimaev got the Wonderboy fight it would be his first fight against a ranked contender in the UFC and a former title challenger.
Thompson has not fought since his unanimous decision victory over Vicente Luque at UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden which earned him a fight of the night bonus. Wonderboy is looking to return to fighting soon and has recently expressed interest in welcoming Nick Diaz back to the octagon after it was revealed that Diaz wants to come back to fighting.
In an interview with MMA Fighting Thompson was asked about Chimaev in which he said “He’s definitely a tough dude and someone you have to keep your eye on for sure—somebody like me, especially.”
Would you be interested in seeing Chimaev vs Thompson?