Stephen Thompson is back in action next month in the main event of UFC Fight Night Liverpool, facing Darren Till.
Former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos and Colby Covington square off next month for the vacant UFC Interim Welterweight Title, but Thompson doesn’t understand why he isn’t in that fight.
“I’m upset,” he said on The MMA Hour. “Being the number-one contender, why am I not fighting for the interim title? It makes no sense. I know that I fought for the title twice. And the first fight was amazing — we got ‘Fight of the Night,’ we fought to a draw — but the second fight, people weren’t impressed with it. But I’m still the number one contender, so why aren’t I fighting for the interim title? Why isn’t the number two guy fighting the number one? It just doesn’t make sense, it’s like they’re not going by the rankings any more. Obviously I’m upset, but it is what it is, there’s no changing it now.”
Thompson is ranked #1 in the UFC Welterweight Division Rankings, while Dos Anjos sits at #2 and Covington sits at #3.
The fighter also just signed a new contract with the UFC and seems optimistic about his future.
“We had some negotiations back and forth with UFC and I am happy with what’s going on in my new contract. It’s definitely an incentive to go out there and do it,” Thompson said. “Of course, I’m not in the game for the money, but if the UFC are pushing something you really don’t want or that doesn’t make sense, you can kind of play the game with them a little bit. We did that and we kind of got what we wanted, so we’re gonna go out there and have some fun with smiles on our faces.”
UFC Fight Night Liverpool tales place on Sunday, May 27 from the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England with Stephen Thompson and Darren Till headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on Fox Sports 1.
