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“I Feel Better Than I Was Five Years Ago”- Stephen Thompson Squashes Retirement Rumors After Recent Loss to Belal Muhammad

Published 12/28/2021, 7:11 AM EST

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Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson has been a fan-favorite in the UFC for a long time. Unfortunately, he has faced adversity in 2021, with consecutive losses against Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. As fans are seeing it tough to watch their favorite fighter get manhandled, they have been requesting him to retire from the sport. However, the 38-year-old believes he isn’t done yet.

On his What’s Up Everybody podcast, the former UFC title challenger stated that cannot comprehend retirement at this point in his life.

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“I feel like people that do retire. When they sit down on the chair, they just feel like they should retire. Like just their body’s beat up, aches and pain.”

“When I sit here and I’m sitting down in this chair, I feel great. I feel fine. I feel fine. I feel better than I was five years ago. I just don’t get it.” 

In his latest bout, ‘Wonderboy’ locked horns with fellow ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad at UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Daukaus. Things looked on equal footing at the opener’s starting. However, ‘Bully B’ turned the tide and dominated Thompson.

Stephen Thompson says Belal Muhammad manhandled him

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Belal Muhammad stunned Thompson as he took the fight to the mat with his superior grappling skills. Notably, ‘Remember The Name’ made a mockery of Thompson’s takedown defense stats and kept him down for most of the duration of the match at the UFC Apex.

via Getty

In the same podcast, “Wonderboy’ reflected on his performance, “I lost my fight, got manhandled for three rounds. Yeah man, it was a sucky experience, to be honest with you… Maybe it had something to do with my rehydration, not sure. But I felt exhausted, felt super tired right out of the first round. I didn’t want to say anything to my coaches or anything that my legs were feeling tingly.”

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Thompson, currently 16-6-1 in his professional career, recently renewed his contract with the UFC. Do you think ‘Wonderboy’ could re-emerge at this stage of his career? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Aashish Kumar

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Aashish Kumar is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. A graduate in Journalism & Mass Communication, this Israel Adesanya fan has interned at reputed media houses and gained valuable reporting experience. Building on that experience, Aashish will look to tap into his love for combat sports and let fans benefit from his passion and journalistic expertise.
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