After not making an appearance at UFC 291, Stephen Thompson is aiming for a return at UFC 295 in Madison Square Garden. The wonderous striker has been called out most recently by rising supernova Ian Machado Garry but the American is favouring a match up with former dominant champion Kamaru Usman.
Aiming for Gold
At 40 years old Thompson is running out of time on his quest towards a UFC welterweight title shot. The targeting of Usman is ideal for getting a shot at the belt as he is the former champion and the last man to challenge the now reigning king Leon Edwards. Many expect the next title fight at welterweight to be announced for UFC 295 controversially involving Colby Covington. Covington last fought in March 2022 in an underwhelming main event where he dominated Jorge Masvidal. Now in his absence from the octagon the main story has solely been an ongoing lawsuit against the Miami star.
With Covington earning the next shot due to weighing in as a backup at UFC 286, Thompson must look for the best contender to give him a shot at being next after the wrestling powerhouse. Luckily the matchup with Usman works well as the only man the former champion has not faced in the top 5 is Thompson. Furthermore, Usman has expressed his desire and willingness to fight Stephen Thompson in interviews this year.
This is what Thompson had to say on his YouTube channel about the Usman matchup.
“I was willing to fight the JDMs, the Ian Garry’s, the Shavkats. But then you got the guy, the number one contender the former UFC champ and one of the greatest fighters calling me out.” He concluded with “I was like let’s make this fight happen are you kidding me”
Welterweight Matchups
The 170lbs division has some of the hottest prospects in the sport and they are all gunning towards that top spot. Edwards likely fights Covington before the end of the year therefore the division needs to plan their routes to gold. Previously mentioned Garry is rising through the ranks rapidly and looks destined to fight again before the year ends. He will only aim for another contender once he knows for certain there is no Stephen Thompson fight.
The bogeyman of the division Shavkat Rakhmonov was meant to fight at Noche UFC. However, Kelvin Gastelum pulled out so the Kazakh is looking for his next match, intriguingly it may be someone not currently on the UFC roster. Michael ‘Venom’ Page is one of the hottest free agents on the market after leaving Bellator earlier this year and Rakhmonov has offered himself as a debut opponent for the unorthodox striker.
Fan favourites could collide if Gilbert Burns gets his wish, volunteering to be Dustin Poirier’s first fight at welterweight. Burns wants to bounce back after a disappointing loss to Belal Muhammed in May which stunted a relentless start to 2023. Unfortunately, for Poirer the 155lb belt looks to be fading away from him so a fresh start would do him some good in a division he has previously teased a move to.
Further down the rankings, Vincente Luque halted his two fight skid with a dominant decision win over legend Rafael Dos Anjos and aims to climb higher. Alongside him Sean Brady is 15-1 but recently pulled out due to a staph infection in July so his return date is unknown. Finally a fan friendly scrap is booked for September 16th when Kevin Holland takes on Jack Della Maddalena both looking to break into the top 10 at welterweight.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
