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[Cat--Smasher]

Wonderboy Draws New UFC 143 Foe

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson is still set to make his promotional debut at UFC 143 on Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas, but he’ll now face a fellow newbie instead of UFC veteran Justin Edwards.

With Edwards forced off the card due to undisclosed reasons, Thompson is now set to face Dan Stittgen, MMAWeekly.com confirmed with sources close to the fight. FightCove.com first reported the switch.

Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson Draws New UFC 143 Foe | MMAWeekly.com

[beau420]

Meet GSP’s Secret Weapon: Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson | MMAWeekly.com

But not very many started living that dream at 12 years of age.

That’s how early South Carolina native Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson started fighting in full-contact kickboxing tournaments.

Growing up in a household where martial arts was king, Thompson, along with his two brothers and two sisters, was instructed by their father starting as young as three years old to learn karate.

From there, Thompson’s love of striking took to new heights. At 12 years of age, he was entering kickboxing tournaments, while his friends were going on their first dates or trying out for the junior high football team.

Somehow he always knew he was going to be a professional fighter, even before he knew how to drive a car.

“I remember growing up, all my friends are like, ‘why don’t you play football or come and wrestle for Hillcrest,’ which is the high school I went to, and I’m like no I’m busy doing my thing kicking butt,” Thompson told MMAWeekly Radio recently.

Once Thompson started kickboxing, he didn’t stop until he had amassed a 57-0 record with more than 40 knockouts. He was one of the fastest rising stars in the sport, and even earned a spot in Chuck Norris’ World Combat League, where he would fight alongside several other top fighters including future UFC heavyweight Pat Barry.

It was there that Thompson actually suffered a devastating knee injury, literally shredding his ligaments and landing him on the sidelines for three years. During that time, however, Thompson had a revelation that if he wanted to continue on as a professional fighter, he needed to make the move to the quick-rising sport of MMA.

“I had one kickboxing fight coming out of that injury, but from then on I told myself that it was going to be nothing but MMA from here on,” Thompson said.

It was fate however that intervened to help Thompson make his mark on MMA as a training partner for one of the best fighters in the sport.

Thompson had traveled to Montreal for a kickboxing match where he took on a local fighter who happened to be a training partner of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. St-Pierre’s trainer, Firas Zahabi, happened to be in his corner and after Thompson knocked out their protégé in the fourth round, they realized that there was something special about this kid from America.

Zahabi stayed in contact with Thompson’s father after the fight and then soon invited him to come train with the team at the Tristar Gym. Thompson was so effective that he was soon receiving calls to help fighters like Rashad Evans and Nate Marquardt get ready for their fights as well.

Currently, Thompson is negotiating with British promotion BAMMA to appear on their upcoming card Dec. 10 in England. He’s hopeful to land a multi-fight deal with the organization, get some experience under his belt, and then he’s hopeful to one day receive the call every fighter longs for.

Guess things with BAMMA didn't work out. Then again....looks like BAMMA is having problems putting out a fight....next fight for BAMMA is March 24, 2012...hopefully their first event of the year.

[Bearded Big Country]

Im going to listen to " Wonderboy" By Tenacious D now

[DaSpiderFan24]

I dont think i've heard of this guy up until now.... time to do some research, youtube here i come... interested to see his kickboxing matches...