Stephen Thompson tells UFC to ‘give me a striker’ on path to title after rebound win

Mike Bohn
·2 min read

Stephen Thompson still has aspirations of a UFC title, but he wants to enjoy the road to the top, too.

Thompson (17-6-1 MMA, 12-6-1 UFC) snapped a two-fight losing skid on Saturday when he defeated Kevin Holland (23-9 MMA, 10-6 UFC) by fourth-round TKO due to doctor’s stoppage in the UFC on ESPN 42 headliner, which took place at Amway Center in Orlando, Fla.

“Wonderboy” was unable to get his striking rhythm going in his past two fights against Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns, and he was grinding out to decision results. He waited nearly a year between fights until the right matchup came up, and when it did with Holland, they delivered a Fight of the Night.

Neither Thompson nor Holland had any intention of grappling during their welterweight main event, and for the karate specialist, that’s a welcomed approach.

“It was kind of one of those unwritten rules that we had going into this fight,” Thompson said at the UFC on ESPN 42 post-fight press conference. “I know later on in rounds he was shooting, I know he had a busted hand, but I think I fell down in the first round and he let me back up. He told me in the first round, he’s like, ‘Hey, I’m not taking you down.’ I’m like, ‘All right, man. Sounds good to me.'”

Holland sustained a hand injury in the fight, which his management reported on social media occurred in the first round. Thompson thinks he can pinpoint the moment it happened, too, as he recalls Holland landing a stiff shot to his forehead.

“I did feel that,” Thompson said. “I had to weather the storm. He threw a lot of elbows at well that staggered me a little bit, but I had to keep moving as well. I’ve got a hard head and I weathered the storm and got the W.”

At 39, Thompson is adamant that he “feels 25” and has no intention of bringing his competitive career to a close. He realistically can only have so many good years left in him, though, and Thompson sent a message to the UFC brass that if it wants to get the best out of him, more matchups like Holland are the way to matchmake him going forward.

“If you guys want more fights like that, give me a striker, baby,” Thompson said. “Give me a striker. Of course, I’m always looking for the title and that’s always at the top of the list, but why not have some fun fights on the way?”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 42.

List

Twitter reacts to Stephen Thompson's corner stoppage TKO of Kevin Holland at UFC on ESPN 42

Story originally appeared on MMA Junkie

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • Jockey David and Pietro Moran set to face one another this year at Woodbine

    TORONTO — It's the only must-win race of David Moran's 2024 season. The veteran Woodbine rider will race this year against his son, Pietro, an 18-year-old apprentice jockey. That's expected to happen repeatedly this season but for the elder Moran, the first meeting will be the most crucial. "I've got to try to get bragging rights beating him first time down the lane," David Moran said. "After that, he can have it. "We don't let each other win, even if it's playing ball at home in the driveway. S

  • Services at Four Weddings and a Funeral church under threat

    Services at a church that featured in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, are under threat, the Church of England has confirmed.

  • Caitlin Clark's Nike deal reportedly worth $28 million over 8 years, plus her own signature shoe

    Clark's $28 million deal is the richest sponsorship contract for a women’s basketball player.

  • Trudeau says Saskatchewan to get carbon rebates despite province not paying levies

    SASKATOON — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Saskatchewan residents will continue to get carbon rebates even though the province has stopped remitting levies from natural gas to Ottawa. Trudeau says the Canada Revenue Agency has mechanisms to collect money the province owes. The Saskatchewan government decided earlier this year to not remit the federal carbon price on natural gas to Ottawa, a move that breaks federal law. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe invoked the measure after Trudeau exempte

  • What is TGL? Tiger Woods' virtual golf league set to debut in January 2025

    The interactive golf league founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy has revealed its six teams and most of the participants for its inaugural season.

  • Donald Trump set to nab additional $1.1 million 'earnout' bonus from DJT stock

    Trump is entitled to an additional 36 million shares if the company's share price trades above $17.50 "for twenty out of any thirty trading days" over the next three years.

  • New Fort Wayne, Indiana, mayor is sworn in a month after her predecessor's death

    Democrat Sharon Tucker was sworn in Tuesday as the new mayor of Indiana’s second-most populous city, nearly a month after her predecessor's death. Tucker, who had been a Fort Wayne City Council member, took the oath of office Tuesday morning at the Clyde Theater, three days after she beat out six other candidates to win Saturday's Democratic caucus in the northeastern Indiana city. The mayor’s office became vacant when Mayor Tom Henry, a fellow Democrat, died March 28 after experiencing a medical emergency related to his stomach cancer.

  • Ex-gang leader's account of Tupac Shakur killing is fiction, defense lawyer in Vegas says

    The defense attorney representing a former Los Angeles-area gang leader accused of killing hip-hop music icon Tupac Shakur in 1996 in Las Vegas said Tuesday his client's accounts of the killing are fiction and prosecutors lack key evidence to obtain a murder conviction. "He himself is giving different stories," attorney Carl Arnold told reporters outside a courtroom following a brief status check with his client, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, in front of a Nevada judge. “We haven’t seen more than just his word,” Arnold said of Davis' police and media interviews since 2008 in which prosecutors say he incriminated himself in Shakur's killing — including Davis' 2019 tell-all memoir of life leading a street gang in Compton, California.

  • Houston-area program to give $500 monthly payments to some residents on hold after Texas lawsuit

    The Texas Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Harris County, which includes Houston, to put on hold a guaranteed income program that would provide $500 monthly cash payments to roughly 2,000 residents. The program has become a target of Republican Texas Attorney General Paxton, who has accused local Democratic leaders of trying to “score political points” through the initiative and filed a lawsuit this month in an effort to block its implementation. The program is the latest rift between state and local leaders in the Houston area, where Democrats in recent years have gained political ground.

  • Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko will miss Game 2 against Predators

    The Vancouver Canucks will be without goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series on Tuesday. Coach Rick Tocchet says Demko is “day to day” and will be evaluated later in the day. Demko, 28, stopped 22 shots for the Canucks in a 4-2 Game 1 victory on Sunday night.

  • Senate Democrats say one thing but do another on foreign aid to Israel

    ‘I think it’s beyond belief,’ Bernie Sanders told The Independent on Tuesday

  • Male hippo in Japan zoo found to be female after 7 years

    A DNA test was carried out because Gen-chan did not display typical male hippo behaviour.

  • Roman shipwreck laid in shallow water for 1,700 years. Now ‘unique’ cargo is revealed

    Residue from jars aboard the wreck reveal the presence of a certain sauce, researchers said.

  • Best of SearchBot: Create a recovery strategy for a site hit by a Google core update

    We asked Search Engine Land's SearchBot to create a recovery plan for a website that lost its rankings following a Google core update.

  • Nova Scotia Power estimates scaled-down version of Atlantic Loop to cost $700 million

    HALIFAX — The current estimate for what has become known as a scaled-down version of the Atlantic Loop electrical grid project is about $700 million, the head of Nova Scotia’s private power utility said Tuesday. Talks continue on how to finance a power line that would run parallel to an existing connection between Onslow, N.S., and Salisbury, N.B., Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg told the province's natural resources committee. The line, he said, would help carry power from future renewable en

  • Phish fans are famously dedicated. What happens when they enter the Sphere?

    LAS VEGAS (AP) — Adele, Mariah Carey and Garth Brooks tower over the Las Vegas Strip, peering out from billboards advertising their various casino residencies. But the 20,000 fans marching toward the glowing Sphere last week were there for a band that many Strip visitors have no idea exists. Over the past 40 years, legions of dedicated Phish fans have followed the Vermont jam band no matter where it goes. This time, it happened to be Las Vegas, for four nights at the $2.3 billion immersive arena

  • Freeland says $5 billion just a start for Indigenous loan guarantee program

    TORONTO — Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says the $5-billion announced for an Indigenous loan guarantee program in last week's budget is just a start. Speaking to media at the First Nations Major Projects Coalition conference Tuesday, Freeland says nothing would make her happier than for it to be oversubscribed and needing to put more funding in place. By guaranteeing loans through the program, the federal government intends to help Indigenous borrowers secure more favourable interest r

  • ‘You need to speak up:’ Family of teen killed at Fort Worth party seek info on shooting

    Daniel Olalde Moreno, 19, died from a gunshot wound Sunday afternoon. He was supposed to attend his sister’s upcoming graduation, according to family members.

  • Dramatic Footage Shows High-Speed Boat Chase During Epic Drug Crackdown in Spain

    Spanish police released footage of a high-speed boat chase that was part of a drug-bust operation involving more than 12 tons of hash and cocaine and 63 arrests.Video released on April 23 by the Civil Guard, one of Spain’s national police forces, shows a police boat chasing a small boat loaded with packages.Police said 63 people were arrested, and 12 tons of hashish and 1,400 pounds of cocaine were seized, as well as boats and fuel.The seizure and arrests were made as part of Operation Arrow, which began on April 1 and is focused on the Andalusian coast and the Guadalquivir River. Credit: Spanish Civil Guard via Storyful

  • Dispute over grass trimmings escalates to shooting between neighbors, Indiana cops say

    The shooting left one man in critical condition with “projectile” damage to his spleen, liver and lungs, court records show.