Stephen Thompson is one of those guys you can’t help but love. The uncrowned yet undisputed NMF (Nicest Motherf—er) in the MMA world, possibly the entire fight world, ‘Wonderboy’ unfortunately seems to be coming to the end of his rope. Already 42, the Karate black belt has lost four out of his last five.

Which is a far cry from the nigh untouchable striker who almost won the title against Tyron Woodley in 2016. While fans are still hopeful of an eventual title shot, and ‘Wonderboy’ wants to keep fighting in the UFC, it seems Dana White and co. do not really consider him a real contender anymore, and have moved him to a gatekeeper role, which is clear from the promotion’s decision to matchup ‘Wonderboy’ against the surging Gabriel Bonfim at UFC Nashville on July 12.

In sharp contrast to ‘Wonderboy’, whose graph is going down, the 27-year-old, 17-1 Bonfim is surging. Three of his four UFC victories have come via stoppages, and the young Brazilian seems like he could be the next exciting welterweight prospect. So a good fight for Bonfim.

A win over Thompson would help him crack into the rankings, after which he could make a run for the title if he keeps winning. But fans are not happy that the promotion giving Thompson a young and hungry lion like Bonfim. Instead, they feel like ‘Wonderboy’ has been hard done by the promotion, and took to social media to vent their frustration.

Fans react to the UFC announcing Stephen Thompson vs. Gabriel Bonfim for UFC Nashville

One fan was so upset at the UFC making Thompson-Bonfim that they wondered whether the veteran had done anything to tick off Dana White and co.: “what did Wonderboy do to the ufc?”.

Another fan was so outraged at the matchup that they wanted the people responsible for making it to be fired from the UFC altogether: “Ufc match makers all need to be fired”. One X user was more puzzled at the prospect of ‘Wonderboy’ facing ‘Marretinha’ than anything else: “This makes no sense.”

Not all fans were totally against the matchup, though. One fan felt that Thompson fighting a young up-and-comer was actually a good thing since that would tell us whether Bonfim is ready for a step up in competition: “Wonderboy is a solid gatekeeper”.

Another was actually pretty confident that not only will the fan-favorite veteran beat the Brazilian, but beat him pretty handily: “Wonderman is gonna beat the brakes off Bonfim.”

One fan was actually pretty optimistic for ‘Wonderboy’ and felt that a win here could open up a path to a title shot for the American: “Nice, wonderboy might just fight himself back into a title conversation with this”.

Another, however, clearly thought Thompson-Bonfim is a mistake and suggested there was another exciting Brazilian ‘Wonderboy’ could have faced– Carlos Prates: “Wonderboy prates was right there 🥲”.

One fan, however, feared the worst– that UFC Nashville might be Thompson’s last ever UFC fight, and he would be fighting a little-known unranked fighter in it: “This might be wonderboy’s last fight as they gave him Bonfim? Wtf?” What do you think about the prospect of Stephen Thompson facing Gabriel Bonfim at UFC Nashville?