James Thompson's gambling addiction nearly ruined his MMA career

James Thompson

James Thompson can pinpoint the moment it all went downhill: May 31, 2008 is a date that will stick firm in his memory, and many longtime MMA fans remember it just as well.

Thompson (20-14 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) was in the heat of a main event battle with Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson at “Elite XC: Primetime,” an event held by the now-defunct organization that was the first MMA show to air on CBS.

Many expected the famous street brawler to walk through Thompson, but that wasn’t the case. Slice struggled to get his rhythm and needed until the third round to connect with a shot that put Thompson on his heels. Although he was in a compromising position against the cage while absorbing punches, referee Dan Miragliotta made a somewhat questionable stoppage after a flurry caused Thompson’s swelling cauliflower ear to burst like a water balloon.

After Miragliotta stepped in to call the contest, Thompson attempted to push him aside. His anger over the call was visible, but he had no outlet to express it because the fight was over.

In search of another way to vent, Thompson turned to gambling, and from there the roughest patch of his life was underway.

“When you’re addicted to something, you give it everything; you give it all you have,” Thompson told MMAjunkie. “In my case it was gambling. I would make money and then I would just literally give it away. Obviously I won as well. I won, but I’d go right back and give it away. It takes the essence of you. It takes who you are and you just try to fill an unfillable part which will never be filled.”

* * * *

Thompson continued fighting after the bout with Slice, but the results were indicative of a problem. He lost five of six fights from 2008-2010 and was knocked out or submitted in all but one of those defeats. Thompson admits he hardly trained and was simply driven by the desire to obtain money that would instantly be gambled away.

“I could have won a million and I would have lost it the next day; it wasn’t about the money,” Thompson said. “It was about something in me. An immaturity, whatever it was – a self-destructive streak.”

Like any addiction, Thompson experienced numerous moments of turbulence. He managed to escape the issues on more than one occasion, but eventually his demons would catch again and reset the downward spiral.

“I would literally not gamble for six months and I’d be getting back on my feet and things would be looking up, but then I’d find a scratch card on the floor and I would win a fiver,” Thompson explained. “I went in and handed that in and I would get some more scratch cards and I would win 75 quid. Then at that point I would be lost. I gambled the 75, lost that, then went back to the house, ransacked the house, got any money I could and went and gambled it all.”

Although Thompson was an active competitor during the worst days of his addiction, he claims the two never mixed. The desire to bet on or against himself would seem natural, but Thompson said he never considered that to be an option.

“Betting against myself would be a bit dodgy, wouldn’t it?” Thompson said. “I’ve never actually bet on myself, and that kind of makes sense in a way. When you have a gambling addiction you don’t think about yourself. Generally if you bet on yourself it’s because there’s some confidence, but I think gambling on some level comes from a lack of confidence. I’ve never bet myself.”

Thompson has difficulty identifying the moment he hit “rock bottom.” In some instances, an addict can point to a happening that represents their worst, but Thompson said, “I’ve got a whole collection of those one moments, it was like six years of it.”

* * * *

Although he can’t define his “rock bottom,” Thompson said he’s able to locate the series of events that started to turn his life around for the better.

Thompson said he first had to confront himself. He was aware his habits were problematic but said he didn’t have enough appreciation for his own well-being to reverse his circumstance. That is until he realized he was becoming the type of person he once despised.

“I realized through the time was I was becoming a bullsh-tter,” Thompson said. “I’m good at spotting bullsh-tters, and all of a sudden I’m one of them. I was making excuses and I just didn’t like the person I was. I wasn’t proud of the person I was. You start punishing yourself and it’s a very self-destructive thing.”

The battles outside of the cage were rough on Thompson, and the ones inside of the cage weren’t going much better. He was stopped in quick and decisive fashion by fighters with a sliver of his experience, but would continue accepting bouts for paydays that would vanish within hours.

Thompson would arrive on fight night with little passion for victory. That’s until he met Mariusz Pudzianowski at KSW 16 in May 2011. Thompson said that midway through the fight he was hit by a series of shots and created an sense that he can do better.

“I went into fights thinking, ‘I don’t deserve to win anyway.'” Thompson said. “When I fought Mariusz Pudzianowski, I was ready to give it all up at that point, but that was a turning point for me. I wasn’t in good shape at all. I went into training and it went terribly. I was terribly out of shape. He’s not a very good boxer and he was beating me to the punch and landing. I got so mad and so frustrated, not with just that, but with everything that had gone before it.

“I put my hands down because I wanted him to knock me out. That’s what I was thinking in my head: ‘Just knock me out.’ I put my hands down and he teed off on me three, four, five times before I thought, ‘That hurt,’ and snapped back into it. I realized he didn’t have much left and I realized I could win it. That was a turning point. I thought I could win it and I did win it. I stopped gambling and inched back into it.”

* * * *

Thompson submitted Pudzianowski with an arm-triangle choke in the second round and beggn what’s currently a six-fight unbeaten streak. One win on its own wasn’t enough to rid his deep-seeded problems, but Thompson said it put him on the right path to confront the issues.

“It’s about being aware of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it,” Thompson said. “You’ve got to be honest with yourself and it’s hard to be honest with yourself. You’ve got to look at it and wonder why you’re doing it and be aware. That’s such an important thing because being aware stops you from falling into the same kind of traps.

“Just like anything, when you stop the negative you leave room open for the positive. If you put the work in it will come, and it has. It’s been slow and painful with lots and lots of down, but I’m kind of getting that momentum now and I’m kind of getting to a place where I want to be. It’s all on the up and up. So I just keep working and that’s all I can really do, isn’t it?”

The road to rehabilitation has been long for Thompson. The winning results over the past several years have led to increased focus, but only within the past year – where he’s been sidelined due to injury –has Thompson completely shaken the gambling addiction that once plagued his life.

Thompson said his biggest eye-opener to date stemmed from the birth of his child. He said he didn’t need anything to keep motivated inside the cage, but outside there was something missing that would keep him centered in moments where temptation would build.

A child provided just that.

“I’ve gone off the rails and sometimes I make a bad decision or if something’s not right I feel sorry for myself and start on the gambling and things like that; all those things lead to one thing and it’s not positive,” Thompson said. “I’ve got a reason not to do those things. I had a reason before not to do those things – my own health, my own career, everything else – but when you have kids that are going to be looking up to you, you don’t want them to go down the same path and make the same mistakes.”

* * * *

Thompson has not fought in 17 months, the longest layoff of his career dating back to his January 2003 professional debut. The layoff has been frustrating, he said, but not upsetting because he’s had the chance to get his head straight and put his personal life in order.

“The Colossus” has some business to settle with his fists, though, and that begins with Bobby Lashley on Friday at Bellator 145. The event takes at Scottrade Center in St. Louis and airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

Thompson and Lashley have history. They fought at Super Fight League 3 in May 2013 in a bout Thompson won by unanimous decision after absorbing some hard blows in the opening round. The rematch has been a long time in the making, as Thompson and Lashley were scheduled to fight twice this year, both times canceled due to injuries on both sides.

When judging the first bout, Thompson is open and honest in his assessment. He admits the first fight could have gone in Lashley’s favor. “The Dominator” broke Thompson’s orbital bone early on and dealt significant punishment during the match.

Thompson still remembers the painstaking recovery from the damage Lashley handed out and said he’s prepared to settle the score and return the favor.

“I was lucky to be the winner in a lot of ways; Bobby did a lot more damage to me in that fight,” Thompson said. “I controlled the fight in the second and the third round, but it was very close. It was very close. I owe him. He broke my orbital bone in the first round. He did a lot more damage to me.

“I want to get a victory which I’m proud of. I do think I edged it, but it depends how you score the fight. I want to put a definite mark on the fight and get him back for breaking my face the first time around.”

* * * *

More than seven years later, Thompson is still unable to escape his showdown with Slice. Bellator President Scott Coker recently stated the winner of Thompson vs. Lashley could be in line for a future bout with Slice, and that possibility couldn’t be any more pleasing for Thompson.

Rarely does life present such bold opportunities to expel demons that have caused hardship, but a rematch with Slice would represent just that.

Thompson believes another showdown with Slice is inevitable. He made it clear his career would be incomplete without it because – win or lose – it would allow him to find closure on a disturbing chapter that nearly irreparably damaged his life and career.

“It really is years and years in the making; I just know that the fight with me and ‘Kimbo’ is going to happen,” Thompson said. “I honestly believe I’ll be fighting Kimbo. 100 percent. I think it’s got to happen. I’m a lot more passionate about that fight than Kimbo will be. I know I have a lot more invested (in this sport).

“My gambling started after the Kimbo fight, which is no one’s fault but my own. Everyone knows what happened in the Kimbo fight and how I didn’t have the chance I should have and I was unfairly treated. The way I reacted to that, which was completely down to me and not him or Gary Slime (EliteXC President Gary Shaw) or that stupid referee – that was all down to me. I decided to start gambling. I want to get the rain cloud of that moment away from me. I want the rain to stop.”

For more on Bellator 145, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.