Stephen Thompson is the last person to hand Jorge Masvidal a loss, but finds himself at a completely different point in his career than his former foe.
Thompson (14-4-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC) defeated Masvidal at UFC 217 via unanimous decision, but has lost his last two in a row to Darren Till, and most recently a knockout loss to Anthony Pettis at UFC on ESPN+ 6, the first time he was ever finished in his career.
Masvidal (34-13 MMA, 13-7 UFC) on the other hand, is coming off back-to-back spectacular knockouts over Darren Till, then a record-setting 5-second KO of Ben Askren at UFC 239, setting him up for a massive main event vs. Nate Diaz at UFC 244.
“Wonderboy” will also be a part of UFC 244, and takes on surging welterweight Vicente Luque. Things have completely changed for both guys since they last fought each other, and in a “Fight Talk” Thompson posted on his YouTube page, he said he draws inspiration from Masvidal’s climb back to the top.
“I thought it was super inspiring to see Jorge Masvidal get back to where he’s at right now,” Thompson said. “I don’t think he was ranked for a while, I beat him two years ago at Madison Square Garden, and he beats two guys. Knocks out Darren Till, knocks out Ben Askren, he’s in the top five. He’s back up there which, hey – I could do the same thing.”
