Stephen Thompson reveals how he became part of champion Georges St-Pierre's camp
Stephen Thompson is set to face Kevin Holland in the main event of UFC Orlando this weekend. The former welterweight title challenger recently opened up about joining UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre's camp early on in his career.
Speaking on UFC Journey, the No.6-ranked welterweight harked back to when he was first introduced to St-Pierre and his coach, Firas Zahabi:
"I was actually brought out to Montreal, Canada, to fight. Guess who's in my opponent's corner? Georges St-Pierre and Firas Zahabi, so I'm like, 'Oh, my God, this guy is probably just a monster. I knocked the dude out in the fifth-round. That same day, Georges St-Pierre and Firas Zahabi comes up to us and was like, 'Hey, can we get your number?'
Revealing that the then-champion wanted him to join his training camp, Thompson added:
"He wanted me to come down and help him with his training camps and I was like, 'Heck yeah, are you kidding me? The UFC champ? Let's go.' I found myself doing more jiu jitsu and wrestling to be a better sparring partner and I'm like, 'I definitely need to be switching to MMA.' In 2010, I had my very first MMA fight. 2012, the UFC called, and here I am'.
Catch Stephen Thompson's comments (8:35) below:
Stephen Thompson believes that he can re-enter title contention
Stephen Thompson enters his UFC Orlando headliner against Kevin Holland coming off back-to-back losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. Despite his recent shortcomings, he recently shared that he doesn't believe that he is done competing for titles.
On the same episode of UFC Journey, 'Wonderboy' said (12:17):
"Not a whole lot of people get to fight for the title. I've fought for it twice and I didn't get it. I know I'm two or three fights away from getting another title shot. I know there's a Murderer's Row in front of me. That's why I love this game, because of the chess match... My hand's going to be raised at the end of this fight then I'm going to go for the title."
The welterweight title picture is quite convoluted at the moment. Current champion Leon Edwards and former titleholder Kamaru Usman are expected to engage in a trilogy bout next year. Surging contender Khamzat Chimaev and former interim champion Colby Covington are being linked with a fight against one another, which will likely determine the next contender.
If Stephen Thompson is to re-enter the title mix, he cannot afford to lose to the unranked Kevin Holland this weekend.
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