Stephen Thompson gives a brutally honest breakdown of his loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC 264
Stephen Thompson has provided fans and pundits alike with a breakdown of his loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC 264.
In the co-main event of the blockbuster Las Vegas card, top welterweights Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns went toe-to-toe with a potential title shot against 170-pound king Kamaru Usman at stake.
In the end, Stephen Thompson wasn’t quite able to fend off the takedown prowess of Burns as the Brazilian got back to winning ways courtesy of a strong decision win.
The unbelievable class of Stephen Thompson
When breaking down the fight, 'Wonderboy' didn’t shy away from talking about what went wrong. In the latest podcast uploaded to his YouTube channel, Thompson said:
“In camp you’re so working on defending the takedown - not getting taken to the ground, not letting this guy get you down, when I should’ve just went out there and did my thing. I believe, and I’m being honest, I felt I was more worried about how he was gonna take me down, because I wasn’t really sure. I’ve seen him do different takedowns before, and I was expecting this guy at some point to fake the takedown and come up with an uppercut or overhand right.
“I didn’t realise how strong this guy was gonna be. Everybody in the UFC is strong, but when it comes to holding you down?”
The marvel that is Stephen Thompson proceeded to talk about the core details of the fight. He also discussed what may have gone wrong as he begins to think about what his future may hold either in or out of the UFC.
Stephen Thompson is known for being one of the nicest guys in the promotion and perhaps in the entire sport, but at this stage, the karate master is definitely at a real crossroads point.
He could continue to try and scrap his way to a title shot or, alternatively, he could decide to go down a completely different route altogether with his career - perhaps even turning his attention to his blossoming YouTube channel.
Stephen Thompson is a determined guy and, based on this recap, he’s also very honest - which is an admirable trait.