Stephen Thompson’s reaction to Rory MacDonald’s welterweight title fight with Robbie Lawler last year was pretty much the same as everyone else who watched what might well be the greatest fight in UFC history:
“Wow,” he said. “That was amazing.”
As the fight unfolded, Thompson said to himself, “How are they still standing?”
Lawler stopped MacDonald a minute into the fifth round at UFC 189 in Las Vegas in a savage brawl which has kept MacDonald out of the ring until Saturday, when he faces Thompson in the main event of a card televised from Ottawa on Fox Sports 1.
Thompson never thought he’d be fighting MacDonald, his long-time friend, and he wasn’t too happy about it when he first heard. And his displeasure had nothing to do with competing against a friend.
“After what I’d done, I thought the title would be next,” Thompson said. “I really didn’t even consider anything else.”
Thompson annihilated former champion Johny Hendricks in February, knocking him out in the first round of a shockingly one-sided fight.
His belief was that he’d next line up with Lawler. His father and trainer, Ray Thompson, told Yahoo Sports after the bout that his son was ready to win the championship.
“He’ll get in there and beat him up, hands and feet,” Ray Thompson said of his son and Lawler. “There’s only one man in the welterweight division I can see who moves and fights like Wonderboy. I don't need to be cocky.”
But before he gets to Lawler, Thompson needs to get past MacDonald. The two trained together at TriStar in Montreal and have been friends for nearly about 10 years.
“It’s always kind of been in the back of my mind that this might happen,” Thompson said. “He’s a friend and I want to see him do well, and I know he wants me to do well. So when I first heard about the fight, it was a little disappointing, to be honest. I thought I’d earned the title shot, and I wasn’t getting it, and on top of that, I would be fighting my friend.
“But as I have thought about it more, I’m kind of excited about it. I’m ranked No. 2 and there is only one guy above me, so if I beat Rory, then there really can’t be a question.”
Thompson’s success hasn’t seemed to have gone to his head. He still lives in Simpsonville, a small town of around 20,000 in in South Carolina that, he says, is football crazy.
He’s gained more notoriety with his success in the UFC, but said things are relatively normal for the time being.
“I’ll be honest with you and I don’t look at myself as a star right now,” Thompson said. “I’m a small town guy and I’m no different than I ever was. Where I’m from, everybody knows who I am, but that’s just because it’s a small town and everybody basically knows everybody else.
“After the Johny Hendricks fight, I went on a media tour in Asia and that was pretty cool. The fans there were unbelievable. But this is home and I’m no big thing. I’m just one of the folks who lives here. It really keeps you grounded and humble.”
Thompson peppers his speech with terms like “awesome,” “amazing” and “incredible,” when talking about MacDonald as well as his UFC experience.
Another win, though, would be life-altering and he’ll likely wind up facing the winner of the title fight at UFC 201 between Lawler and Tyron Woodley.
He is eager for that moment, but not ready to discuss it too much.
“I have too much respect for Rory MacDonald and what he can do to ever think for one second about a fight against someone else while I still have to fight him,” Thompson said. “That fight he had with Lawler. I had great respect for him before that, but it just went to another level. What he showed in that fight is the kind of heart and will champions have, so I know that basically I’m fighting a championship-type guy here."
