Stephen Thompson Discusses Fighting Future, Ahead of UFC Nashville Bout
By FCF Staff
Stephen Thompson is now 42, and has two fights left on his current UFC deal. But, the longtime, welterweight contender isn’t ready to announce retirement plans yet.
Thompson is set to face Gabriel Bonfim at the UFC’s latest card in Nasvhille, which is taking place on July 12th. The fight will be Thompson’s 22nd Octagon appearance since he joined the UFC back in 2012.
The highlight reel striker spoke with MMA Fighting ahead of his latest bout. While doing so, “Wonderboy” confirmed he has two fights left on his UFC deal, and that his fighting future, will depend on how those bouts play out.
“I’ve got two fights left, depending on how these fights go, [I’ll decide] whether or not I keep going,” Thompson said. “I go out there and win these two fights and I do it in an amazing fashion, we’ll keep going, man. God forbid, if it doesn’t work out the way I want it to go, there are other options I can go — like the analyst job with the UFC. I don’t know if you know I’m doing a lot of that, which it beats getting punched and kicked in the face, but you’re still part of the game, you know what I mean?
“But I’m in this game to keep pushing myself. I’m 42 years old, the oldest guy in the UFC. I want to continue to keep pushing forward to try to see how good I can get, keep evolving, keep getting better. The last three or four guys that I faced have been top contenders with Buckley, who just fought Usman. You had Shavkat Rakhmonov, the Gilbert Burns’, and the Balal Muhammads’ and all these studs coming up. So, yeah, man. I’ve been in the top-five, top-10 since 2013, [maybe] 2014. So I think that’s pretty cool. Fought for the title twice, so I’m happy where I’m at…”
Thompson (17-8) is looking to end a two-fight losing skid that he’s incurred as a result of bouts with the aforementioned Joaquin Buckley and Shavkat Rakhmonov.
The 27-year-old Bonfim (17-1), meanwhile, is coming off wins over Ange Loosa and Khaos Williams. His only defeat to date came against Nicolas Dalby in November, 2023, who stopped him in the second round.
