“That Would Be an Awesome Fight” – Stephen Thompson Opens Up on a Potential Match With Israel Adesanya

Stephen Thompson is one of the best welterweight contenders in the UFC. Fighting pro since 2010, he has never changed his division in his entire MMA career. However, ‘Wonderboy’ is open to moving up to the middleweight division for a potential fight against a well-known UFC superstar.

As of August 2021, Thompson currently holds the #4 position in the UFC welterweight rankings. In his UFC career, he has defeated several elite UFC athletes, such as Vicente Luque, Robert Whittaker, Jorge Masvidal, to name a few. 

He is probably 2-4 consecutive wins away from getting a title shot. Thus, the right thing for ‘Wonderboy’ is to stick to the welterweight division to become a potential title challenger for the second time.

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In a recent interview with James Lynch, Lynch asked ‘Wonderboy’ whether he will move up to the middleweight division. That is when he revealed the only reason he will put on weight.

Thompson said – “Everybody has been asking me that, you know, ‘I wanna see you versus ‘Stylebender” (Israel Adesanya). I think that would be an awesome fight. If we had, we like, made a deal to just keep it, which I don’t think he would ever, you know, shoot for takedown. But I think that would be an awesome fight for sure, me and ‘Stylebender'”.

It is clear by now that ‘Wonderboy’ is open to moving up to the middleweight division only for a potential fight against the current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.

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Stephen Thompson on Robert Whittaker “killing himself” to make weight for their fight

Robert Whittaker started his professional MMA career as a welterweight contender before he moved to the middleweight division. Even as a welterweight, ‘The Reaper’ had a huge physique. Meanwhile, Thompson was and always has been a natural welterweight. 

The pair clashed at UFC 170 on February 22, 2014, where Thompson emerged victorious via a first-round TKO. For their bout, ‘Wonderboy’ made the weight easily, while he believes it wasn’t the same case for Whittaker.

In the same interview, Thompson said – “Robert Whittaker is, he is thick. He is a big dude in a big barrel chest. He killed himself to get to 170, and I make 170 fairly easy”.

Whittaker now is fighting in the middleweight division, where he is doing great. He currently holds the #1 position in the UFC middleweight rankings. Moreover, Whittaker is likely to go up against the current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya for the title in his next fight.

Will Stephen Thompson vs. Israel Adesanya ever come to fruition? What do you make of what ‘Wonderboy’ had to say about Whittaker?

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