[autotag]Stephen Thompson[/autotag] steps into the octagon at UFC 307 with a multi-pronged mentality for his career.
A former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger, Thompson (17-7-1 MMA, 12-7-1 UFC) is looking to bust out of a 1-3 slump in his past four fights while simultaneously giving back to the division by fighting a surging name in Joaquin Buckley (20-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who is on a four-fight winning streak.
“Wonderboy” meets Buckley in the featured prelim of Saturday’s card (ESPN+, ESPNews, ESPN+ pay perview) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Thompson hasn’t seen action since a December loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov, and he said this was the right time and right matchup to get back on track.
“To be able to go out there, put on a show and continually move up the rankings is always my goal to better myself,” Thompson told MMA Junkie on Tuesday. “My goal now is always the title, but always just to better myself and this is my test to test my skills against these studs coming up. There’s a lot of guys in the welterweight division and other divisions that just try to hold onto their spot. I wouldn’t have made it where I am today if it wasn’t for the (Jake) Ellenbergers and the (Johny) Hendricks and the Rory MacDonalds giving me those opportunities as an up-and-coming fighter.
“There are a lot of guys holding onto their spots, but I don’t mind giving back to the Vicente Luques and (Kevin) Hollands and Joaquin Buckleys. Giving them a shot (to move up).”
Thompson said the bout with Buckley came together when they saw each other in Las Vegas for International Fight Week in early July. Both men pushed their managers to talk with the UFC brass about making the fight. A few months later, it’s happening.
The matchup is one Thompson, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, thinks is fitting for his style. There’s always an expectation somewhere in his mind that every opponent is going to try for a takedown at some point in time. With this pairing in particular, though, he sees No. 14 Buckley as somewhat vulnerable on the mat.
Thompson never has recorded a submission in his 20-fight UFC career. The 41-year-old wants one before putting a bow on his career, and although he thinks Buckley’s “ego” will lead to plenty of striking exchanges, Thompson is ready to bust out his grappling chops if need be.
“I would love to get a submission win,” Thompson said. “I’ve only had one submission win, and it was before the UFC. I’ve been really working on my ground work and hopefully we can get one either this fight or the next. There are opportunities everywhere, especially if he tries to shoot or tries to take me down. There’s things I can try to do against the fence I’ve been working on. Off my back that I’ve been working on.
“But I don’t know. He does have an ego. I feel like he’s the type of guy that thinks he can beat you at your own game. So I can kind of lure him down (to the ground). If the knockout happens, it happens. If a submission happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. I’m ready for a three, five-minute round war.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.