Wonderboy to Fight in UFC 145 – Atlanta

News courtesy ISCF MMA

Stephen Thompson
Moving On To UFC 145 In Atlanta
Stephen Thompson Vs. Matt Brown – UFC 145, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Former IKF Champion and now  pro MMA fighter Stephen Thompson (Right) already has an invitation back to the UFC Fight Stage. Thompson will almost be fighting in his backyard as he takes on Matt Brown at UFC 145 in April in Atlanta, Georgia. As many here know, Thompson made his UFC debut a little over a week ago, knocking out Dan Stittgen with a head kick in round 1. The win improved his MMA record to 6-0, 1-0 in the UFC.

The critics are already at it on various MMA news pages claiming Thompson had it easy in his win over Dan Stittgen. Writers are already making it clear
that Thompson will face a much more experienced fighter in Brown (13-11, 6-5 UFC) who defeated Chris Cope (5-3) by second round TKO on the
same night Thompson made his debut.

However Brown has went 2-4 on his last 6 events dating back to March of 2010. He went winless in 2010 losing all 3 bouts by submission. He stayed out of the cage from November 2010 till June 2011 when he came back and defeated John Howard by decision, only to turn around in November of 2011 and lose to Seth Baczynski by submission.

The articles out in the MMA world are claiming that Thompson will most likely want to keep the fight standing, feeling he’s “Just a kickboxer with no ground game.” Thompson though is eager to show the MMA World his ground game if need be, but the truth is, if he doesn’t have to, “Why go to the ground?” Besides, it’s VERY CLEAR to everyone watching MMA today that the “Stand-up” portion of the sport is what’s exciting the crowds. This is most likely why Kickboxing and Muay Thai events are showing larger crowds then 5-10 years ago. The question is, “WHEN will TV take notice and get Kickboxing and Muay Thai on main stream TV?”

The comments of Thompson’s critics are nothing new and almost expected by those who don’t know him. As with anyone, those who don’t know Thompson and doubt him are the first to say Stittgen was not that good, and will also be the first to say neither is Brown if Thompson comes away victorious. Sadly, we live in a world of “Negative news gets more read than positive.” Because of this, there will be those who want to jump on Thompson and say he’s not all that, etc… We have watched Thompson since 2000. We have seen him grow up, not only as a fighter but as a bright, respectful and honorable young man. If or when the times comes that Thompson is on the losing end one day, you won’t hear excuses, cries, etc.. “You will hear a man simply admit, his opponent was better on this day or night, but another day will come, and it will be my day…” to Thompson’s critics, an answer like that is like smiling at a person who curses you out to your face and then just walking away… and that alone will be yet another victory for the “Wonderboy!“

For more information, see IKF Kickboxing’s page on Stephen Thompson.