Stephen Thompson believes he deserves a title shot more than Leon Edwards.
At UFC Vegas 21, Edwards made his return to the Octagon against Belal Muhammad who stepped up on short notice. Early on in the fight, Edwards had success but in the second round, he poked Muhammad in the eye and the fight was over and ruled a no-contest.
After the event, Edwards said he wasn’t interested in a rematch and instead believes he deserves a title shot. However, for Thompson, he doesn’t think the Englishman should fight for the belt, as he believes he even deserves the next crack.
“I know Edwards is like, ‘No man, I want to fight for the title,’” Thompson said on his podcast (via MMAFighting). “Come on, dude. You haven’t fought. I deserve the title more than you deserve it at this point. I’m just saying. You know what I mean? Come on, guys. I’m the only guy that Usman hasn’t fought.”
Although the fight did end in a no-contest, Stephen Thompson was impressed by Leon Edwards early on in the fight. However, he thinks he should rematch Muhammad due to the fact Edwards was the reason why the fight ended.
“He looked really crisp, he looked really sharp, he looked fast,” Thompson said. “That’s the best shape I’ve seen Edwards in. He was looking shredded. … His fighting skills, he had great timing, he looked very calm. He had Belal backing up. I had him winning the fight up until the point where he poked [Muhammad] in the eye and [Muhammad] couldn’t continue. But anything can happen. Belal was saying he was just getting warmed up.”
Although Thompson wants the next title shot, it was revealed Kamaru Usman will defend his belt against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261. After that, it is uncertain who would be next as Colby Covington, Thompson, and Edwards all could face the winner.
Do you agree with Stephen Thompson?
