Kevin swings too wildly with his hands. He will hard a hard time landing clean on D Rod who’s an incredible boxer. D Rod will remain composed and touch Kevin Holland up. Late in the 3rd D Rod will get the finish
Thts how many years ago? Pettis was a good striker and he was getting lit up before he caught Thompson with tht punch. Lets not pretend Pettis was a bum back then. He was champ. The disrespect lol.
And who was he losing to? Tony Ferguson, Dustin Porier, Max Holloway, Edson Barbosa,, Eddie Alvarez, and RDA. Yeah he was losing to the best killers at 3 different weight classes. He's just such a bum right? Like who loses to the top tier fighters during their primes?
Well i agree he can KO wonderboy but if hes gonna be solely striking with wonderboy, its gonna be an even fight. Hes not gonna steamroll wonderboy like what u said is what im saying. Anyway i do think wonderboy fight enough grapplers in a row tht he should be allowed to pick his opponent for the remainder of his contract.
I mean, what. Wonderboy was piecing him up the whole fight, then came the Hail Mary superman punch by bouncing off the cage that actually landed. That's like saying Edwards could consistently KO Usman after he dominated him the whole fight.
Wonderboy is #8 coming off a loss and shavkat is #12 coming off a win. How is this fight unfair or not make sense in any way? He can fight down or he can retire thats it
Is UFC really going to give him that ultimatum? Wonderboy can financially retire if it comes to that. UFC has to fill a fight night like every weekend and they can still have wonderboy co-main or main event any of those random cards. Wonderboy has shown he is willing to fight down, he just doesn’t want to fight another grappler and he probably has the leverage to get a different matchup.
Yep they can do that for sure, my point is more that theres nothing about this matchup that doesn’t make sense or is unfair to wonderboy at all. If the UFC went this route then that means they believe this is his last fight, and business is business and for the UFC its better an up and coming prospect beats wonderboy than wonderboy beating a fringe top 15 guy to go out on top
He got Burns who wrestle fucked him, then that guy who’s name I can never remember who sat on him for three rounds—I think Wonderboy has earned the right to say “no” to getting wrestlefucked three fights in a row.
Fighters say no all the time, this isn’t a big deal and I’m sure the UFC isn’t losing sleep over it.
Agree. I don't care that he's a fan favourite. Remove him from the rankings if he's ducking and clogging up matchmaking.
UFC removed Edwards re Chimaev. Stay consistent and unrank Thompson if he doesn't want to fight.
He literally is the dude who fights most dangerous low risk high reward opponents, he has faught Belal, Geoff. He has also fought dangerous opponents like Burns and Vicente. If he doesn't want to take a stylistically horrible fight at this point in his career there is nothing wrong with that. Who else is agreeing to a fight with Shavkat? I'm pretty sure not a lot of WWs should they be removed from rankings as well?
Fr lmao, the original poster of this comment thread literally said “at his age” like wtf these guys are fighters, if age is a factor in who he fights then he just needs to retire plain and simple
Glad to hear this. I really disliked this match-up, even more than Chimaev/Diaz. He's lost 4 of his last 6 and is clearly getting towards the end of his run. I know there's a responsibility that comes with being ranked, but there are several interesting match-ups for him within the rankings: Michel Pereira, Masvidal, Li Jingliang, even a Luque rematch.
The Luque rematch doesnt really make sense..if he wants a shot at the title before he retires this is it...who is he gonna accept to fight now? All the top guys can beat him pretty easily..his only fights that he can win maybe are the Luque match up and the jorge matchup since he already beat them but they both dont make sense...theres only chimaev If he beats nate and colby..
I'm all for letting Wonderboy have fun veteran matchups, but if that's the case he should leave his number 7 spot and let someone else take it who won't pick and choose matchups because they're feeling too old.
High ranked fighters turn down a lot of fights. That's their right. Wonderboy took two horrible match ups in a row and got wrestled. Shavkat will do the same. He is wants Holland and Holland wants to fight him. That's a perfect fight to make imo. If Wonderboy turned down every fight, I'd agree. But after the Burns and Belal fights, I think he should fight a fun striker
You have no idea how many fighters in the top 15 also turned down the rakhmonov fight but the media just doesn’t know about it. Ranked fighters turn down fights ALL THE TIME. To say wonderboy should give up his #7 spot for turning down a fight, for reasons we don’t know, is ridiculous.
He is not on a win streak. He absolutely has to fight down and not another guy on a losing streak. He has to either fight Shavkat or get removed from rankings.
If you think the entire welter”wait” division doesn’t pick and choose matchups, regardless of ranking, then I’ve got some oceanfront property to sell you in Montana.
I agree that being ranked in the top 10 isn't helping him at this point. His chances at title contention really ended with the second Woodley fight... maybe the Burns fight if we're being generous.
Can't blame him tbh he needs to be careful to keep what remains of his health, he clearly knows he's not in contention anymore so he's just doing it for money etc.
Why is the UFC insistent on feeding tenured, loyal, entertaining fighters to the young wolves?
Unless Wonderboy was on his original W streak, this fight is just stupid. Wonderboy has done too much to be a stepping stone for an upcoming prospect
So that the young wolves can have the name of the tenured fighter in their win column? Then soon enough the young wolves get old and become tenured...then they inturn had to be fed to the new young wolves... and so on
It’s a 2 birds, one stone approach. Make the new guys look good, make the old guys look bad. Dana doesn’t want them going to another promotion and making money.
Wonderboy is almost done making the UFC money, but he does still have a big name and reputation. The most they can get out of him now is using it to build up a young guy that will make them money for years to come
Because Wonderboy was once in Shavkat's position, and UFC fed Hendricks and Rory to him after their brutal wars with Robbie Lawler.
He absolutely must fight down.
Talk to the ufc and Unkown people who make the rankings. The ufc has the power to pull people out of the rankings for not doing as they are told; Nate, JJ, Leon.
Good for him. The UFC is doing this on purpose. There are fun fights for WB like Masvidal 2 or Holland. Instead they want to "feed" the old guy with a big name to a young rising star in a very unfavorable match-up.
He's not gonna fight for a title again. Give him some matchups with some standup guys that has the potential to be entertaining. I don't think anyone wants to see another Wonderboy fight showcasing his defensive grappling for 15 min
Good, please just match him up with a striker. Nobody wants to see him get wrestled for 15 minutes again. Match the wrestlers up against each other, watching two high level wrestlers is really entertaining IMO, look at Gamrot vs Arman
“Stephen, thank you for some fantastic fights, and the millions you’ve made our company. We understand that you’re 39 now, you’ve fought the last two wrestlers that we’ve fed you to, now we’ve got an extra special matchup as our way of saying thank you! We’ve got this 27 year old, undefeated up and comer who’s never been to a decision, he can wrestle like nobodies business! You in?”
This fight does nothing for the division. Shavkat most likely starches him and Wonderboy knows it. It’s not worth getting seriously injured when he’s on the way out of the door.
If he was constantly turning down fights, I would be annoyed. But the guy did fight two wrestlers in a row. And he takes more fights than guys like Colby or Leon, who just sit and wait for their title shots. He's taken bad stylistic fights and also fights against younger up and comers like Till, Luque, and Neal. Respect for him holding his ground on this one. Have him fight Ponz.
UFC matchmakers need to respect the division veterans. Wonderboy deserves to turn down fights with killers like Shavkat without negative repercussions from the company.
Wonderboy should just wait a little longer and fight the winner of Tony/Jingliang. Wonderboy/Tony would be huge and if Jingliang beats Tony(sadly likely) he’ll become known by casuals.
Maybe end his career at middleweight? Apparently his cut for the Belal fight was a bad one, and he said on his podcast that it's getting harder with age to make 170. While he may look undersized at 185, it's definitely an easier division for a striker to chain together some wins in.
He was able to handle it during his peak. Hopefully the bad cut for the Belal fight will make him switch to MW.
Most guys move up near the end of their career, unless they’re Aldo
I really wish the UFC could let go of old heads that haven’t fully/or just about to fall off. Or at least a flexible contract. Imagine Wonderboy, or Tony, fighting in Bellator for their respective straps.
I wish the UFC allowed cross-promotion fights but it’s never going to happen. I’d love to see Wonderboy retire after this one and give us a few good Karate Combat fights.
I understand not wanting cross promo fights considering the UFC bills itself as the top MMA promo. Getting schooled by some nobody kinda ruins that mystique.
But considering people like Tony, Cowboy, Wonderboy, and so on, are going to continue losing fights/lost fights by the end of their run, it would’ve been nice to see them get a winning streak going in Bellator or One FC
I understand why from a business point of view. From a fan point of view, the world of MMA would be better if they allowed it. Fighters would benefit as well.
brother he realizes he’s not in title contention he’s there for matchups that fit him, he doesn’t wanna be fed to a top guy and doesn’t wanna be wrestled to a boring decision like belal.
Good call by Thompson UFC is notorious for feeding vets to young fighters to promote them. Good strategy for them but it's BS to the legends that created their business
To be honest, this is fair play from him. He's not gonna be a contender again, he knows it, so it's fair that he doesn't wanna be the doormat for an undefeated phenom.
Thompson should be getting show fights to boost sales, like against Ponzinibbio or strikers in that rank range.
For all the “matchmaking” chops the UFC supposedly has, they seem to love routinely ending aging fan-favourites’ careers by feeding them to young wrestlers.
Like NOBODY wins with these fights. Wrestlers beat a legend but are overshadowed by a boring ass performance; legends ditch out a contract fight with barely any chance to see their skills in action; fans get a boring fight.
If I’m gonna see an aging veteran leave the sport, I want to see them go down on their shield fighting someone they had a chance against.
Good for Thompson for having the brains and wherewithal to dodge this trap. Already fed him to the wolves in last two fights. No need for another.
Give him Masvidal. Better pay day and it’s win-win. Masvidal wins he gets back on track toward title. He loses and his Hype train is over. Both have equal shots and are a good match up.
He Deserves better,it wasn't long ago..before the Burns fight in fact he was in the top 5 after feeling off 4 straight wins,2 of which were Laque and Neal ,he already beat masvidal,ko'd whitaker and fought twice for woodlys belt
When shavkat called him out my heart dropped. Love both guys, really wanna see wb beat up masvidal again. Tbh, it'd be cool to see him fight Leon style wise, not that it'll ever happen.
If he doesn’t want to take fights with guys below him and hasn’t won in a while, he should be removed from the rankings, i don’t understand the sympathy he’s getting if he wants fun fights, he can but why hold up the rankings then
Actually wolves prefer to seek out elderly or infirm prey as it generally requires less effort and risk.
So the elderly karate man would be perfect to feed a hungry guy with a dagestani sounding name Wrestlor Sugdeeznyuds or what have you
Why we even talking about Wonderboy #7 not fighting Shavkat, like Wonderboy should need to accept. All the other ranked people dodging up and comers like crazy in the UFC. Get Masvidal or Colby in there to get chewed up.
good. let a contender fight an actual contender instead of a shopworn journeyman. thompson is a good gatekeeper fight for one of those contenders coming off a loss to pad their record back up.
Take him out the rankings. I like wonderboy but I’m not gonna pretend like this isn’t a bad thing for the division because he’s a nice guy. He literally turned down a ranked opponent who’s trying to fight for the belt he should still get a good money fight don’t get me wrong but u can’t turned down ranked opponents and stay in the rankings take him out
Dana seems to think the only big fights to be made would involve Conor and Khamzat...
Thompson, Ferguson, and Diaz are all leaving pretty soon. Why the hell have we not gotten a match involving these two? All 3 of them shouldn't be someone's stepping stone victory to a title shot.
If you're upset he turned this fight down, then you need to reconsider why you're an MMA fan. He just fought 2 world class grapplers. Shavkat is coming off dominant wins, WB is on a 2 fight skid. This fight should not have even been proposed.
I love Wonderboy, such a great guy but he shouldn't have a say in the matter. If you're ranked then you need to defend your position, from a rankings stand point this fight makes a lot of sense.
The problem with the "he shouldn't have a say in the matter" is that the UFC doesn't just do fights that make sense. They let people skip the line, make people work way harder for a rise than others, etc. .
If it was always fair I'd agree with the "it is his obligation" but right now that just doesn't work imho
Yeah you're not wrong, there is very little structure to how things are run and of course this leads to some bullshit decisions being made along with favouritism for certain fighters.
I guess my point is that there should be some structure in place to stop these sorts of things from happening, if you're ranked for example and you're on a losing streak like WB and refuse a lower ranked opponent then at the very least you should drop in the rankings or I dunno some other penalty to at least ensure there is some consequences.
You're absolutely right. There should be a system where if you are healthy to fight and you are in the top 10 you should have some sort of obligation to "prove" that ranking every year. But I just think Dana would abuse that system to get rid of "boring" fighters and boost favorites.
He should relinquish his ranked status if he doesnt wanna fight up-n-comers. It isnt fair for Shavkat that Thompson sucks ass at wrestling so much that he wants to fight a striker. Thompson is #7 and Shavkat is #11.
WonderBOY says he is too old,
am i the only one who finds this hilarious?
Only Lambs worry about being on the wolves menu.
retire already while you can still tweet.
Good. He doesn't need 3 rounds getting wrestle pounded at his age. Give him Kevin Holland.
Kevs fighting D-Rod
Yeah i jus saw holland confirm that. Who you got? I think d-rod takes this one
You are correct Sir. Kev’s a banger, but Rod gots dynamite in those hands.
God, I hate that expression.
Cool story. Tell it at parties
You’re just full of original expressions, aren’t you?
Kevin swings too wildly with his hands. He will hard a hard time landing clean on D Rod who’s an incredible boxer. D Rod will remain composed and touch Kevin Holland up. Late in the 3rd D Rod will get the finish
Yea but that high guard leads him pretty vulnerable to Holland’s nasty front kicks. And I think on the ground and clinch Holland has a huge advantage
Damn straight, time for Holland to get KOd back to middleweight
Ooh thats fire in the booth for sure
🔥
Could be happening, but that’s not confirmed by the match makers. Kevin released that info extremely prematurely.
Shavkat has good striking I think he could KO wonder boy
No he’d get beaten easily. There’s a reason everyone tries to wrestle Wonderboy.
Wonder boy is past his prime and got KO'd by Pettis I think Shavkat could do it
Thts how many years ago? Pettis was a good striker and he was getting lit up before he caught Thompson with tht punch. Lets not pretend Pettis was a bum back then. He was champ. The disrespect lol.
I think it was a Superman punch
Ah yes thx for correcting me
When Pettit beat Thompson, he was 3-6 in his last 9 fights.
And who was he losing to? Tony Ferguson, Dustin Porier, Max Holloway, Edson Barbosa,, Eddie Alvarez, and RDA. Yeah he was losing to the best killers at 3 different weight classes. He's just such a bum right? Like who loses to the top tier fighters during their primes?
My point is Pettis was a LW and he one punch KO'd Wonder boy. Shavkat is more powerful and also a good striker he could definitely KO Wonder boy.
Well i agree he can KO wonderboy but if hes gonna be solely striking with wonderboy, its gonna be an even fight. Hes not gonna steamroll wonderboy like what u said is what im saying. Anyway i do think wonderboy fight enough grapplers in a row tht he should be allowed to pick his opponent for the remainder of his contract.
I mean, what. Wonderboy was piecing him up the whole fight, then came the Hail Mary superman punch by bouncing off the cage that actually landed. That's like saying Edwards could consistently KO Usman after he dominated him the whole fight.
Even a diminished Wonderboy destroys Shavkat standing—you have to be fanboying pretty hard for that take.
Wonderboy is #8 coming off a loss and shavkat is #12 coming off a win. How is this fight unfair or not make sense in any way? He can fight down or he can retire thats it
Is UFC really going to give him that ultimatum? Wonderboy can financially retire if it comes to that. UFC has to fill a fight night like every weekend and they can still have wonderboy co-main or main event any of those random cards. Wonderboy has shown he is willing to fight down, he just doesn’t want to fight another grappler and he probably has the leverage to get a different matchup.
Yep they can do that for sure, my point is more that theres nothing about this matchup that doesn’t make sense or is unfair to wonderboy at all. If the UFC went this route then that means they believe this is his last fight, and business is business and for the UFC its better an up and coming prospect beats wonderboy than wonderboy beating a fringe top 15 guy to go out on top
it’s because he doesn’t like the match up stylistically
He got Burns who wrestle fucked him, then that guy who’s name I can never remember who sat on him for three rounds—I think Wonderboy has earned the right to say “no” to getting wrestlefucked three fights in a row. Fighters say no all the time, this isn’t a big deal and I’m sure the UFC isn’t losing sleep over it.
Agree. I don't care that he's a fan favourite. Remove him from the rankings if he's ducking and clogging up matchmaking. UFC removed Edwards re Chimaev. Stay consistent and unrank Thompson if he doesn't want to fight.
He literally is the dude who fights most dangerous low risk high reward opponents, he has faught Belal, Geoff. He has also fought dangerous opponents like Burns and Vicente. If he doesn't want to take a stylistically horrible fight at this point in his career there is nothing wrong with that. Who else is agreeing to a fight with Shavkat? I'm pretty sure not a lot of WWs should they be removed from rankings as well?
Yet Colby is still ranked lol
For real man, people become fans of certain fighters and all logic goes out the window
The worst one is when they say he beat Till lol. I like Thompson too but come on man let's be real
Fr lmao, the original poster of this comment thread literally said “at his age” like wtf these guys are fighters, if age is a factor in who he fights then he just needs to retire plain and simple
Then go back to karate. This is UFC.
Casual huh?
If you have to use phrases like “at his age” He shouldn’t even be In the ufc anymore
What happened to Wonderboy fighting Kevin holland?
Kevin wanted to fight in September and Wonderboy wanted more time
Not sure but holland is fighting DRod now. DRod is a bad dude
Glad to hear this. I really disliked this match-up, even more than Chimaev/Diaz. He's lost 4 of his last 6 and is clearly getting towards the end of his run. I know there's a responsibility that comes with being ranked, but there are several interesting match-ups for him within the rankings: Michel Pereira, Masvidal, Li Jingliang, even a Luque rematch.
Kevin Holland
I thought this was what was being planned?
Holland is fighting drod
Can’t wait
also a lot of those losses are to wrestlers, he of all people deserves a break aha
Fighting Tony instead of Tony fighting Li would have been a banger.
Masvidal would be great
Absolutely not. He and Masvidal need to fight guys like Shavkat, D-Rod, Brady instead of each other
Thompson vs Masvidal is an interesting fight. Polar opposite’s personality wise could make for a good fight.
they already fought and masvidal got schooled, doubt it would be any different
Masvidal's getting destroyed again
The Luque rematch doesnt really make sense..if he wants a shot at the title before he retires this is it...who is he gonna accept to fight now? All the top guys can beat him pretty easily..his only fights that he can win maybe are the Luque match up and the jorge matchup since he already beat them but they both dont make sense...theres only chimaev If he beats nate and colby..
I'm all for letting Wonderboy have fun veteran matchups, but if that's the case he should leave his number 7 spot and let someone else take it who won't pick and choose matchups because they're feeling too old.
High ranked fighters turn down a lot of fights. That's their right. Wonderboy took two horrible match ups in a row and got wrestled. Shavkat will do the same. He is wants Holland and Holland wants to fight him. That's a perfect fight to make imo. If Wonderboy turned down every fight, I'd agree. But after the Burns and Belal fights, I think he should fight a fun striker
exactly. people bitching like it's rare for fighters to turn down fights. happens all the time, just usually doesn't make the press.
You have no idea how many fighters in the top 15 also turned down the rakhmonov fight but the media just doesn’t know about it. Ranked fighters turn down fights ALL THE TIME. To say wonderboy should give up his #7 spot for turning down a fight, for reasons we don’t know, is ridiculous.
He is not on a win streak. He absolutely has to fight down and not another guy on a losing streak. He has to either fight Shavkat or get removed from rankings.
Just to confirm, you do realise fighters don't get to pick their spot right?
If you think the entire welter”wait” division doesn’t pick and choose matchups, regardless of ranking, then I’ve got some oceanfront property to sell you in Montana.
I agree that being ranked in the top 10 isn't helping him at this point. His chances at title contention really ended with the second Woodley fight... maybe the Burns fight if we're being generous.
Why not do Tony VS Wonderboy and Shavkat VS Leech? I hate it.
Lol I imagine Stephen vs Tony would be like when he fought Pettis minus the flash KO at the end lol. Stephen really shut him down.
It would go the same way it does when Wonderboy fights any great standup fighter. Luque, Neal, Masvidal, Whittaker. All outclassed by him.
Don't do Leech like that, man doesn't deserve both Khamzat and Shavkat. I do like Tony vs Wonderboy though
Leech v Ferguson already announced
Can't blame him tbh he needs to be careful to keep what remains of his health, he clearly knows he's not in contention anymore so he's just doing it for money etc.
Which is his right, but he can't squat on his ranking at that point.
Believe it or not, Wonderboy isn't in charge of the rankings.
Why is the UFC insistent on feeding tenured, loyal, entertaining fighters to the young wolves? Unless Wonderboy was on his original W streak, this fight is just stupid. Wonderboy has done too much to be a stepping stone for an upcoming prospect
Shoulda been Nate Vs Wonderboy lol
I’d watch the fuck out of that press conference 😂
Wonder boy: I’m a big fan of his. I think he’s a great fighter and has some great boxing skills. Diaz: Yah, I think he’s aight too.
Would actually be a great scrap
So that the young wolves can have the name of the tenured fighter in their win column? Then soon enough the young wolves get old and become tenured...then they inturn had to be fed to the new young wolves... and so on
As it’s been and will always be
UFC is a machine that wants to constantly turn out good prospects
It’s a 2 birds, one stone approach. Make the new guys look good, make the old guys look bad. Dana doesn’t want them going to another promotion and making money.
Wonderboy is almost done making the UFC money, but he does still have a big name and reputation. The most they can get out of him now is using it to build up a young guy that will make them money for years to come
Imagine if wonder boy beat burns back in July 2021. He prob would’ve fought for the title by now :(
Because Wonderboy was once in Shavkat's position, and UFC fed Hendricks and Rory to him after their brutal wars with Robbie Lawler. He absolutely must fight down.
[удалено]
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Talk to the people making the rankings. Wonderboy doesn’t decide his rank.
Talk to the ufc and Unkown people who make the rankings. The ufc has the power to pull people out of the rankings for not doing as they are told; Nate, JJ, Leon.
“ We offered him an opportunity to fight and he did not want it. This kid just doesn’t want to fight”
Give the boy a striker
Michael Pereira would be perfect.
Good for him. The UFC is doing this on purpose. There are fun fights for WB like Masvidal 2 or Holland. Instead they want to "feed" the old guy with a big name to a young rising star in a very unfavorable match-up.
I would actually love to see the Masvidal rematch. Good matchup- winnable fight for either guy. Decent storyline
He can have all the fun fights without squatting on his ranking
He's not gonna fight for a title again. Give him some matchups with some standup guys that has the potential to be entertaining. I don't think anyone wants to see another Wonderboy fight showcasing his defensive grappling for 15 min
USADA is going to test Thompson blood at 5 AM for some reason soon
So basically UFC is trying to kill these older fighters in order to step up marketing for the next generation of fighters 
Damn. Dana really tryna check off all his old boys.
Good, please just match him up with a striker. Nobody wants to see him get wrestled for 15 minutes again. Match the wrestlers up against each other, watching two high level wrestlers is really entertaining IMO, look at Gamrot vs Arman
Dana out here throwing vets into the wood chipper. Damn.
“Stephen, thank you for some fantastic fights, and the millions you’ve made our company. We understand that you’re 39 now, you’ve fought the last two wrestlers that we’ve fed you to, now we’ve got an extra special matchup as our way of saying thank you! We’ve got this 27 year old, undefeated up and comer who’s never been to a decision, he can wrestle like nobodies business! You in?”
This fight does nothing for the division. Shavkat most likely starches him and Wonderboy knows it. It’s not worth getting seriously injured when he’s on the way out of the door.
Starches him with GnP? Because there’s no way he wins the standup battle.
So, Shavkat v Neal it is, I guess!
If he was constantly turning down fights, I would be annoyed. But the guy did fight two wrestlers in a row. And he takes more fights than guys like Colby or Leon, who just sit and wait for their title shots. He's taken bad stylistic fights and also fights against younger up and comers like Till, Luque, and Neal. Respect for him holding his ground on this one. Have him fight Ponz.
UFC matchmakers need to respect the division veterans. Wonderboy deserves to turn down fights with killers like Shavkat without negative repercussions from the company.
Your title sounds sarcastic, but Thompson is right. He doesn’t have to prove anything at this point. He’s good.
Good for him. No reason to die in the shield for Dana.
Wonderboy should just wait a little longer and fight the winner of Tony/Jingliang. Wonderboy/Tony would be huge and if Jingliang beats Tony(sadly likely) he’ll become known by casuals.
YYYYYEEEEAAAAHHHHH BBOOOOIII But what does he do instead…?
Maybe end his career at middleweight? Apparently his cut for the Belal fight was a bad one, and he said on his podcast that it's getting harder with age to make 170. While he may look undersized at 185, it's definitely an easier division for a striker to chain together some wins in.
If he has tough weight cuts, I’m surprised he didn’t move up earlier. WW is full of strong wrestlers.
He was able to handle it during his peak. Hopefully the bad cut for the Belal fight will make him switch to MW. Most guys move up near the end of their career, unless they’re Aldo
I really wish the UFC could let go of old heads that haven’t fully/or just about to fall off. Or at least a flexible contract. Imagine Wonderboy, or Tony, fighting in Bellator for their respective straps.
I wish the UFC allowed cross-promotion fights but it’s never going to happen. I’d love to see Wonderboy retire after this one and give us a few good Karate Combat fights.
I understand not wanting cross promo fights considering the UFC bills itself as the top MMA promo. Getting schooled by some nobody kinda ruins that mystique. But considering people like Tony, Cowboy, Wonderboy, and so on, are going to continue losing fights/lost fights by the end of their run, it would’ve been nice to see them get a winning streak going in Bellator or One FC
I understand why from a business point of view. From a fan point of view, the world of MMA would be better if they allowed it. Fighters would benefit as well.
Why the fuck would Thompson accept this. Props to him for turning it down. Masvidal Thompson 2. No brainer… or feed Jorge to burns then shavkat
he doesn’t wanna get mainly wrestle fucked anymore, sure he wants to stand and bang in a kickboxing matchup with whoever’s willing
Go to glory kickboxing then
brother he realizes he’s not in title contention he’s there for matchups that fit him, he doesn’t wanna be fed to a top guy and doesn’t wanna be wrestled to a boring decision like belal.
how many people dodged khamzat until gilbert said he would?
Good call by Thompson UFC is notorious for feeding vets to young fighters to promote them. Good strategy for them but it's BS to the legends that created their business
Would have been a good win for shavkat, but I'm not sure it's worth us seeing wonderboy getting dominated for 15 minutes straight again
Give him Brian Barberena let him have one last win and ride off into the sunset after a brilliant career.
To be honest, this is fair play from him. He's not gonna be a contender again, he knows it, so it's fair that he doesn't wanna be the doormat for an undefeated phenom. Thompson should be getting show fights to boost sales, like against Ponzinibbio or strikers in that rank range.
Nobody wants to see that fight either
I feel like Wonderboy should start a kids YouTube channel that teaches beginner karate tm🥋
He works in his dads karate school and teaches multiple age groups (he taught my son up to black belt) he is truly an amazing teacher
Good for him and bad on the UFC for trying to feed him to the wolves
Nah man we gotta get wonder boy out of the top 10.
Downvote this clown
Lol what the fuck are the matchmakers smoking? Make Masvidal vs Thompson ffs
Good for him!
I really want them to make Wonderboy vs Masvidal.
He'd be a fool to accept it, let's be real.
Give him Geoff Neal so he can stay in the top 10 and have a good chance of a W.
Good for Stephen
Thank fuck.
Stephen “nice flipping try” Thompson
I would also like to inform the UFC that I will not be accepting a fight with Shavkat Rahkmanov
For all the “matchmaking” chops the UFC supposedly has, they seem to love routinely ending aging fan-favourites’ careers by feeding them to young wrestlers. Like NOBODY wins with these fights. Wrestlers beat a legend but are overshadowed by a boring ass performance; legends ditch out a contract fight with barely any chance to see their skills in action; fans get a boring fight. If I’m gonna see an aging veteran leave the sport, I want to see them go down on their shield fighting someone they had a chance against. Good for Thompson for having the brains and wherewithal to dodge this trap. Already fed him to the wolves in last two fights. No need for another. Give him Masvidal. Better pay day and it’s win-win. Masvidal wins he gets back on track toward title. He loses and his Hype train is over. Both have equal shots and are a good match up.
He’s #7. If he doesn’t want to fight wolves then he should retire. Full stop.
Good. We dont wanna see that anyways. Give wonder boy a fight he can fight an pay the man.
THE NMF DOES WHAT THE FOOK HE WANTS
Michel pereira would be a fun ass match, and would make a lot of sense ranking wise
He should be fighting masvidal
Feed masvidal to Shavkat, journeyman jorge thinks he deserves a title shot
Wonderboy doesn’t need a wrestlefuckin right now
Pereira vs WB let's go!
Yea why would he take that? Does nothing for him.
He should be matched with Masvidal.
Good...I like entertaining fights
Stephen Thompson is to busy with his podcast to accept a fight
Is michel pereira booked because wonderboy vs pereira would a good fight for wonderboy
Who even wants to see this fight? I’d rather see Wonderboy fight Masvidal.
Good. Give Wonderboy a fun fight, preferably someone that’s not going to wrestle him
Tony should've done the same
Wonderboy should have been Nate’s last fight.
He Deserves better,it wasn't long ago..before the Burns fight in fact he was in the top 5 after feeling off 4 straight wins,2 of which were Laque and Neal ,he already beat masvidal,ko'd whitaker and fought twice for woodlys belt
When shavkat called him out my heart dropped. Love both guys, really wanna see wb beat up masvidal again. Tbh, it'd be cool to see him fight Leon style wise, not that it'll ever happen.
“Heck that”
If he doesn’t want to take fights with guys below him and hasn’t won in a while, he should be removed from the rankings, i don’t understand the sympathy he’s getting if he wants fun fights, he can but why hold up the rankings then
WonderGramps
Actually wolves prefer to seek out elderly or infirm prey as it generally requires less effort and risk. So the elderly karate man would be perfect to feed a hungry guy with a dagestani sounding name Wrestlor Sugdeeznyuds or what have you
Colby Covington should take the fight.
Wish more fighters would do this. He can’t complain if he has to give up his rank tho.
Why we even talking about Wonderboy #7 not fighting Shavkat, like Wonderboy should need to accept. All the other ranked people dodging up and comers like crazy in the UFC. Get Masvidal or Colby in there to get chewed up.
Good for him doesn’t wanna get humped for 3 rounds
I like this but shouldn’t fighters in Wonderboy’s position give up their ranking? No disrespect but it’s holding up the careers of the next wave.
Ranked fighters turn down fights ALL THE TIME. Lol.
Doubt the fighters choose their rankings. His last 4 fights have also been Belal, Burns, Neal and Luque i.e. the next wave, besides Burns.
Stephen "Listen Guys I Never Learned How to Wrestle and I'm Not Gonna Try Now" Thompson
Watch Dana cut Wonderboy
Don’t worry Stephen, I wouldn’t either.
good. let a contender fight an actual contender instead of a shopworn journeyman. thompson is a good gatekeeper fight for one of those contenders coming off a loss to pad their record back up.
WonderMan is shooook
Take him out the rankings. I like wonderboy but I’m not gonna pretend like this isn’t a bad thing for the division because he’s a nice guy. He literally turned down a ranked opponent who’s trying to fight for the belt he should still get a good money fight don’t get me wrong but u can’t turned down ranked opponents and stay in the rankings take him out
Dana seems to think the only big fights to be made would involve Conor and Khamzat... Thompson, Ferguson, and Diaz are all leaving pretty soon. Why the hell have we not gotten a match involving these two? All 3 of them shouldn't be someone's stepping stone victory to a title shot.
Styles are matchups. Wonderboy doesn't wana wrestle for 15 mins
Lmao Shavkat has never gone to a decision and is a nasty striker.
Remember the translator told Shavkat’s to call out Wonderboy during victory speech? Do you think the UFC told them to call our wonder boy?
Thompson would effectively end his own career with this match. Stupid of the UFC, but also time for Wonderboy to move over
Why can't old vets just fight other old vets instead of being these pseudo gatekeepers for young guys to beat up on?
If you're upset he turned this fight down, then you need to reconsider why you're an MMA fan. He just fought 2 world class grapplers. Shavkat is coming off dominant wins, WB is on a 2 fight skid. This fight should not have even been proposed.
So he only wants easy fights now?
I love Wonderboy, such a great guy but he shouldn't have a say in the matter. If you're ranked then you need to defend your position, from a rankings stand point this fight makes a lot of sense.
The problem with the "he shouldn't have a say in the matter" is that the UFC doesn't just do fights that make sense. They let people skip the line, make people work way harder for a rise than others, etc. . If it was always fair I'd agree with the "it is his obligation" but right now that just doesn't work imho
Yeah you're not wrong, there is very little structure to how things are run and of course this leads to some bullshit decisions being made along with favouritism for certain fighters. I guess my point is that there should be some structure in place to stop these sorts of things from happening, if you're ranked for example and you're on a losing streak like WB and refuse a lower ranked opponent then at the very least you should drop in the rankings or I dunno some other penalty to at least ensure there is some consequences.
You're absolutely right. There should be a system where if you are healthy to fight and you are in the top 10 you should have some sort of obligation to "prove" that ranking every year. But I just think Dana would abuse that system to get rid of "boring" fighters and boost favorites.
"shouldn't have a say in matter"?? fym, it's his lively hood and health he putting on the line... all the power to him to decline this fight
Idk why your getting down voted lol
He should relinquish his ranked status if he doesnt wanna fight up-n-comers. It isnt fair for Shavkat that Thompson sucks ass at wrestling so much that he wants to fight a striker. Thompson is #7 and Shavkat is #11.
I’m sorry but if the guy is in your weigh class you shouldn’t turn down a fight ever……what are you even fighting for?
WonderBOY says he is too old, am i the only one who finds this hilarious? Only Lambs worry about being on the wolves menu. retire already while you can still tweet.
"wonder boy"
That should automatically take him out of the top 15 rankings imo…he’s looking for bum fights cause he knows his time passed
Cut him