Stephen Thompson is interested in a potential matchup with fellow UFC veteran Donald Cerrone, who recently announced his plans to return for two more fights after re-entering the drug-testing pool.
Thompson, a longtime UFC welterweight contender, sees Cerrone as a logical opponent. "Wonderboy" has consistently faced elite competition throughout his career but is currently on a tough stretch. He has lost four of his last five fights, including consecutive stoppage defeats to Shavkat Rakhmonov and Joaquin Buckley.
I’m thinking April, May time, I think would be cool just because I’m a huge fan of Cerrone, and he comes from that old-school era that I kind of came from almost 13, 14 years ago,” Thompson said on the OverDogs Podcast. “So, it’s cool that he wants to jump back out there.
“I thought it would be awesome if he doesn’t want to cut the weight to 155 maybe to make that fight at 170. I thought it would be really cool to have two veterans like that step back out there and face off against each other, but nothing booked yet. But that’s what I’m kind of shooting for, that April, May time.
Despite his recent setbacks, the former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger remains confident in his ability to compete at a high level against any opponent. A fight with Cerrone — who last competed in July 2022 before retiring — would be a high-profile veteran showdown that could generate significant fan interest.
With Thompson targeting a return in April or May, whether the UFC will book this potential clash of fan-favorite strikers remains to be seen.