Stephen Thompson is looking forward to his showdown with a ‘tough’ opponent in Jorge Masvidal, claiming it will be a fight not to be missed
“Wonderboy” is coming off the back of a loss to UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley at UFC 209 and is looking to steadily push himself back into title contention.
The 34-year-old will aim to start his run with a victory over “Gamebred” who was unlucky in defeat in his last outing against Demian Maia at UFC 211 (via FanSided)
“This fight has fireworks written all over it. I’ve been training for Tyron Woodley for almost a year now and this [fight with Jorge Masvidal] gives me somebody different to break down, somebody different to get ready for. The media obligations aren’t there. When I was fighting Tyron, especially with it being a title fight, it was kind of crazy. With this, I can just sit back and focus on the fight, train, train when I want to train and not have to go all over the place to do the media. It’s nice to be able to sit back and just think about the fight. I’m excited, I’m energized, I can relax a little bit more. The energy level is truly up.
“I wanted somebody in the top-5 anyway. When I got that tweet from Jorge [Masvidal], it really excited me. At that point, I was still into recovery time. But hey, it’s happening, and it’s happening soon. He really is coming into his own right now. He fought at 155 for a while and he’s doing really well at 170, defeating some really tough guys and going the distance with top-level fighters. He’s tough. They don’t call him ‘Gamebred’ for nothing. He’s always game when he steps out there, is very well-rounded, good muay thai, great boxing experience. I didn’t even know he was a street fighter before that. I saw some footage of him not too long ago doing some backyard street fighting. I remember thinking, ‘That dude is a tough guy, man.’”
