Wonderboy Has Reason To Hate Fighting GSP
Now that former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is back in the UFC, several fighters have already called him out as they see as a huge payday for them. UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is a perfect example of that as his career is winding down and wants to be paid for his long career as an MMA fighter.
Top ranked welterweight contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is not one of those fighters calling out the former champ in greed for a payday but rather due to his history with “GSP.” Before Thompson rose up the ranks in the welterweight division, he was a training and sparring partner for St-Pierre while being brought into his past camps to help him prepare for his upcoming fights. That history would make it difficult to accept a fight with St-Pierre for Thompson.
“I would hate [fighting him]. I would hate the day where I would have to step out there with a guy who inspired me first in kickboxing to [try] mixed martial arts. He was my inspiration,” Thompson told the Fight Society podcast (transcript via FOX Sports. “He’s a good friend of mine. That would be a hard one, to be honest with you just emotionally because he’s a good bud. But you never know. You never know what the UFC’s going to bring. Of course, I know we’re both businessmen and professionals. It’s kind of like with Rory [MacDonald], I’ve got a little better relationship with Georges than I did with Rory. I don’t know. We’ll just have to see. I would not want to just because of the relationship we have but it is business.”
“Yeah for me it is about fighting the best people in the world and proving that I am the best fighter, not only to the world but to myself,” Thompson said. “I’ve been doing this since I was three years old and this is who I am. This is my life and I want to be the best. I do it for the honor and the glory and it’s not about that big paycheck.”
After over three years away from fighting, St-Pierre will definitely have a lot of eyeballs on his first fight back and that includes Thompson. However, whether it ends up happening remains to be seen as Thompson is scheduled to fight Tyron Woodley for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 209. Even with his preparation for the upcoming title bout, Thompson will certainly be watching his comeback fight no matter who he faces.
“I am kind of excited that he’s back. I know he’s always been training, always evolving, everybody thinks that Georges St-Pierre in the past three or four years is maybe not training at all but this guy he’s a martial artist, a lifelong martial artist. He’s always training and evolving,” Thompson said.
“He is the best welterweight of all time and glad he’s back out there. I’m glad he can make things work with the UFC. Question is if he still has it. You can train all you want but it is a little different when you’re stepping out there. But he’s a very intelligent guy, got good people around him, so we’ll see.”
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