Stephen Thompson hopes to meet Jorge Masvidal by the end of 2017.
“Wonderboy” is coming off a majority decision loss to Tyron Woodley back in March. It was just the second loss of Thompson’s professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career. The top ranked welterweight is now waiting for medical clearance on his knee to compete again.
Speaking to Flo Combat, Thompson explained why a fight with “Gamebred” should be the next move:
“That’s the plan. It’s a fight the UFC and fans would be interested in. We kind of agreed to it verbally because I’m still on the injured list because of my knee and haven’t gotten the green light from the doctor yet. It feels great to walk on and I can move angles, but I can’t kick and sink my kick in very well. I feel some pain in my MCL area when I do that, but I think that’s normal for where we are at.”
Thompson went on to say that everyone else appears busy or booked.
“This is something Masvidal has been pushing for as well. He’s ranked No. 4 and wants to work his way up. I want to fight someone in the top five, so for me that’s great. Robbie Lawler has a fight, I don’t think Carlos Condit is fighting and Demian Maia has the next title shot, so it looks like the only guy I would be looking to fight is Masvidal. It just makes sense.”