Stephen Thompson doesn’t believe his December 19 main event fight against Geoff Neal will be a striking match as many suggest.
Instead, for “Wonderboy” he expects Neal to shoot for takedowns early and often. However, he is confident he will be able to stuff them and keep the fight standing.
“At some point, I think he’s gonna use his wrestling,” Thompson told MMA Junkie. “He’s gonna use his strength against me, maybe get me up against the cage, use the cage to try and take me down or to use his dirty boxing. So I got great guys to help me prepare for this fight. Wherever the fight goes, I’m gonna be ready.”
One person Thompson used was his brother-in-law in Chris Weidman. The former middleweight champion will also be in his corner. Not only is he is in his corner, but Weidman also lives near Thompson now so he says adding him to his camp has been tremendous.
“In sparring, going from striking to wrestling with him, (it’s) just extra confidence because that could be how the fight goes with Geoff Neal. I know he’s looking for that. I know he’s looking for a takedown at some point so like I said, it’s great to have him out here, and I’m ready wherever the fight goes.”
