Stephen Thompson hasn’t been seen in the Octagon since a razor thin decision loss to Darren Till in the main event of UFC Fight Night Liverpool.
While Thompson would like to fight again by the end of the year, a nagging knee injury may derail those plans.
“In that Till fight, I ended up tearing my MCL. So I’m just trying to heal from that, for some reason…it is taking forever for this knee to get right. I’ve had four knee surgeries on it and I’m having a hard time getting the swelling down after a good training session, so it kind of leads me to believe that there is something else wrong with it…its a meniscus. We’re gonna get that looked at, we’re looking at December or January (for a fight). I would love to fight in December, not really sure who yet. I would love to fight Robbie Lawler, would love for that fight to happen. Its kind of up in the air, I know he’s coming off of a knee injury as well. It could be anybody at this point,” says Thompson in an exclusive interview with Fightful’s James Lynch.
Thompson is rumored to be fighting former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler this January, but nothing has been confirmed at this time.
There have been some key welterweight division fights that have been announced in recent weeks, a soon to be returning Thompson wants to fight anybody ranked in the top ten.
“Yeah man, anybody…anybody right now. I think some of these fighters may already be matched up, you may see those fights get announced pretty soon…I don’t want to say anything. It could be anybody, I don’t really care. Anybody in the top five…top ten, ready to go out there and do some work and show the fans what I’m really capable of. That last fight with Till, I ended up tearing my ACL. My movement was out the window, I expect people to go after my knee again. So we’re gonna be doing some things and your gonna see a better well-round Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, a better MMA fighter instead of just a striker,” says Thompson.
If Thompson does get his wish to fight a top ten fighter in the division that’s not booked at this time, it would leave Colby Covington, Darren Till, Damien Maia, Jorge Masvidal and Robbie Lawler as potential opponents.
