Oli Thompson Ready for ‘Huge Opportunity’ Against Matt Mitrione at Bellator 158

2015 proved to be a watershed year for English heavyweight Oli Thompson.

In five fights, Thompson picked up five wins, three by finish, effectively rebuilding a career that was spiraling after three straight losses the year before.

“At the beginning of 2015, I was very much down in the dumps, and looking for inspiration to get myself back to where I belong,” Thompson told MMAWeekly.com. “If you look at the guys I beat in the year, it was three or four legitimate guys who were on good runs. It was an amazing year. For me it was satisfying and it was redemption. It took me full circle to where I feel I belong.”

While last year was exemplary for Thompson, 2016 has been a big frustrating in terms of keeping his momentum going.

“I actually accepted a fight earlier in the year against former Bellator champ Alexander Volkov, and that fight didn’t come off due to promotional issues, so it wasn’t Alexander’s fault,” said Thompson. “I was offered a fight with Fedor Emelianenko (at EFN 50), which he turned down for an easier opponent. Then I accepted for the same show for Vitaly Minakov, and he also turned down for an easier opponent.”

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2016 so far hasn’t been a total wash for Thompson. He knows that being back on a winning streak only means that more is expected of him, and he has to work harder than before to meet those expectations.

“With success comes pressure for more success, so I need to be a better version than the version of me that was out last year,” Thompson said. “I’m ambitious, and I want to fight guys who are close to me or even better than me or above me. I knew that my skillset had to broaden a little bit and I’ve been working on it, just chipping away at every different department.”

Thompson (17-8) will look to pick up his sixth straight win when he makes his Bellator debut on July 17 in London, England, against Matt Mitrione (10-5) in a heavyweight main card bout.

“We’re very different in how we approach and how we look to win a fight,” said Thompson. “I think we’re both capable of explosiveness in different moments of the fight. It could be very short or it could be a long one. The longer it goes, the more the favor comes to me. I’ve fought longer fights many times. His style is interesting, and I feel like I know how to break that down.”

Having worked his way back from a career low point, Thompson is looking to gain further respectability with a good showing in Bellator and seeing where it can take him.

“This is a really huge opportunity for me,” he said. “Some people won’t know anything about me, so hopefully this will open eyes. My whole career, people have dismissed me, but eventually they come around. It started locally in my area, and then it spread to my county and now Great Britain. For the most part they believe in me as well, so if I can spread that out to an even wider audience, the people who believe in me, I’m gradually getting the respect I feel I deserve.”

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