Watch: When Wonderboy thoroughly outclassed Jorge Masvidal when they fought at UFC 217
Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson and Jorge Masvidal met in a welterweight bout at the iconic UFC 217 pay-per-view on November 4, 2017.
Catch the highlights of Thompson vs. Masvidal below:
Masvidal and 'Wonderboy' fought in the second bout of the main card. The first couple of minutes of the fight saw very little action from either fighter. Thompson's wide karate stance and incredible striking skills helped him keep Jorge Masvidal at bay.
As 'Wonderboy' looked for openings, Masvidal gradually began targeting the southpaw's lead leg with oblique kicks. 'Gamebred' attempted to mix up his kicks and strikes by aiming at the body every now and then.
However, Thompson was in complete control of the distance and slid in-and-out smoothly. He used a variety of side kicks to catch Masvidal with blows to the body and temple, even dropping him with a kick to the head.
'Wonderboy' also showed impressive swiftness while carrying out flurries. He often went in and landed a solid combination that caught Masvidal clean on multiple occasions. Once he'd landed, he would always re-establish distance soon after.
The second round started with similar exchanges. 'Wonderboy' appeared to be laser-focused and was smart enough not to let his guard down against the always-dangerous 'Gamebred'.
Just over a minute into the second round, Thompson dropped Masvidal with a right hand straight to the jaw. The Miami-born welterweight quickly gathered his wits and defended Thompson's ground-and-pound by bringing his legs between himself and 'Wonderboy'.
Stephen Thompson drops Masvidal and somewhere backstage Michael Bisping is loving it #UFC217 https://t.co/aPxch4Anxi
'Wonderboy' stepped back and Masvidal got back to his feet. He constantly controlled the distance and moved around the octagon, successfully keeping Jorge Masvidal from gaining momentum at any point during the fight.
Thompson dropped Mavidal twice during the bout and also defended two takedown attempts from Masvidal. An absolute striking masterclass from 'Wonderboy' helped him sail to a unanimous decision victory.
Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson offers to fight Jorge Masvidal again
The UFC welterweight division has recently seen a lot of exhilarating action in the top-10. The weight class has an ample supply of exciting contenders. Furthermore, 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman seems unstoppable. He's dismissed all the contenders one after the other.
Leon Edwards is hoping to be one of the fighters who will soon challenge for the title. Many expected 'Rocky' to fight Jorge Masvidal for a shot at title contention. However, the Englishman recently clarified that he does not want to fight the 'BMF' and will wait for a title shot instead.
"My next fight will be for the world title I don't want to hear nothing about a guy coming off 2 fight skid and Got ko his last fight"
My next fight will be for the world title I don’t want to hear nothing about a guy coming off 2 fight skid and Got ko his last fight
Soon after, 'Wonderboy', who is also looking to make his way back into title contention, scooped in with an offer for Masvidal. He wrote on Twitter:
"Well, if Leon won’t fight @GamebredFighter, I’d love to step in and run it back. We all know Masvidal 2.0 is a different animal! #superrespectfully," posted Stephen Thompson.
Well if Leon won’t fight @GamebredFighter I’d love to step in and run it back. We all know Masvidal 2.0 is a different animal! #superrespectfully twitter.com/bjpenndotcom/s…