Stephen Thompson Reveals Desired Next Opponent
Stephen Thompson has not fought since March of this year at UFC Nashville when he was knocked out by Anthony Pettis. Since then, he has been recovering from the knockout and looking forward to what is next.
Why he took so long off since the knockout is simple for Thompson. The multi-time 170-pound title challenger wanted to make sure he was fully healthy.
“I wanted to take the summer off after that last fight with Anthony Pettis,” Thompson said to MMA Junkie. “Taking that shot was like, ‘Man, I want to make sure I’m healed up before I step back out there.’ Especially mentally, for my brain, and making sure that’s healed up before I step back out.
“To be honest with you, I’m 100 percent. I’m ready to step back out there and do it again. At this point, I’m just trying to find an opponent.”
The welterweight division is so stacked that there are plenty of options for Stephen Thompson and his next fight. One opponent “Wonderboy” wants is Rafael dos Anjos, as they are coming off of losses and are both highly ranked. Yet, if that fight doesn’t happen he would be open to fighting Vicente Luque.
“I know me and ‘RDA’ are coming off of a loss,” Thompson said. “That was kind of thrown out there, and hopefully that will work. It’s kind of up in the air, but I’d love for it to happen at Madison Square Garden. I want to get back up in that top five again. So that’s why the ‘RDA’ fight is so appealing to me.
“I don’t know if Vicente Luque is ranked yet. I think he’s in the top 14 or 15 or something like that, so it wasn’t that appealing to me. But if the ‘RDA’ thing doesn’t happen, that’s definitely a possibility. He’s a great fighter.”
The hope for Thompson is that he can fight again at UFC 244 in Madison Square against a top-ranked welterweight.
Would you be interested in seeing Stephen Thompson vs. Rafael dos Anjos?
