Stephen Thompson vows to scrap UFC fights if opponents miss weight: ‘It’s not going to happen’
Former two-time welterweight title challenger, Stephen Thompson has vowed to scrap scheduled bouts under the UFC banner if his opponent misses weight again – following last month’s cancelled showdown with Michel Pereira ahead of UFC 291.
Thompson, the current number seven ranked welterweight contender, was slated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 291 at the end of July in Salt Lake City, Utah – taking on Brazilian striker, Pereira in a main card matchup.
However, ahead of the bout, the Simpsonville native elected against competing at a catchweight limit against the Pereira, after the Brazilian missed weight by four pounds for the matchup in ‘The Beehive State’.
Confirming how he had yet to receive his show money, despite successfully making weight for the pairing himself, Thompson’s management was touted as being in the process of trashing out some form of compensation with UFC president, Dana White over the fiasco.
Stephen Thompson issues warning to welterweight fighters
In a bid to discourage future opponents from tipping the scale, the veteran striker has now claimed that if another opponent fails to make the limit, he will go ahead and remove himself from the bout.
“I want everybody to know right now in the 170 division, that if you’re going to fight me, you better be on weight or it’s not going to happen,” Stephen Thompson told MMA Fighting.”
“I’m at a place in my career where I want to fight fairly,” Stephen Thompson explained. “I don’t want to play any games. I don’t know what needs to be done but I think there should be more and greater consequences for these guys who are coming in with no integrity and no honor to make weight.”
Yet to book a bout off the back of his shelved pairing with Pereira, South Carolina kickboxer, Thompson has been welcomed as a next opponent by former undisputed welterweight champion and prior pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman.
