Stephen Thompson gunning for bizarre record in UFC — ‘It’s the plan’

Longtime UFC welterweight title contender Stephen Thompson, who’s been fighting inside the Octagon for nearly a decade, recently signed a multi-fight contract with the world’s preeminent MMA promotion.

That means “Wonderboy” will be sticking around long past his upcoming Belal Muhammad showdown at UFC Vegas 45, scheduled for this Sat. night (Dec., 18, 2021) inside the APEX facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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HIGH STAKES LIGHTWEIGHT MATCHUP! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to UFC APEX on Sat., Sept. 23, 2023, with a high stakes 155-pound showdown as No. 6-ranked contender, Rafael Fiziev, takes on No. 7-seeded Mateusz Gamrot. In UFC Vegas 79’s co-main event, No. 12-ranked Featherweight contender, Bryce Mitchell, steps back into the Octagon against No. 13-seeded Dan Ige.

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“I’m kind of surprising myself. I have always loved fighting, but I never thought that I would be where I am today and still feeling the way I do,” Thompson told The MMA Hour. “And obviously, that has a lot to do with the coaches and the way I’m training so hats off to those guys. I want to break records, man. I wanna be the oldest guy who ever fought in the UFC. They are going to have to bring out a senior division or something. It’s the plan.”

Thompson (15-5-1) is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC 264 back in July. “Wonderboy” is 2-2 dating back to 2019, sandwiching wins over Geoff Neal and Vicente Luque between losses to Burns and Anthony Pettis.

Muhammad (19-3, 1 NC) is undefeated in his last six fights dating back to April 2019. During that stretch, “Remember the Name” defeated the likes of Demian Maia, Dhiego Lima and Lyman Good to land five spots below Thompson in the official rankings.

To see who else is fighting at UFC Vegas 45 click here.