Stephen Thompson may be the number-one contender at 170 lb, but it looks like he won’t be next in line to take on newly-crowned champion Tyron Woodley.
After knocking out Robbie Lawler to become the division’s new king, “The Chosen One” almost immediately called out Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz, two of the biggest draws in the sport for his first defence.
Thompson, who was working in the studio as an analyst for UFC 201, couldn’t believe it when Woodley didn’t even acknowledge him as a possible contender for his first fight as champion. Wonderboy let it all out on Monday’s MMA Hour.
“In my head I was like, ‘You’re kidding me, right, that you wouldn’t give me the shot?’ Yeah, he went out and defeated Robbie Lawler, but a lot of people didn’t think he deserved it in the first place.”
“Seconds after winning the title (he’s) already choosing his fights. Come on, who gets to do that? You’re starting to see that a lot more. It’s almost like do the rankings really count? Do they really matter? He knows I’m the number one guy. I’m on a seven-fight win-streak. I think you have to defend the title at least once before you can start picking your shots.”
Georges St-Pierre responds to newly-crowned champion Tyron Woodley's call-out #UFC201 https://t.co/tzumsnB6zC
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 1, 2016
St-Pierre has already stated his interest in fighting Woodley, which has already sparked rumours that he, not Wonderboy, will be getting the next welterweight title shot. However, in Thompson’s mind, the number-one contender will be fighting for the belt next.
“I don’t think that he’s scared of me, but it almost seems like he doesn’t want to fight me. I don’t know if he thinks it’s a bad match-up, but no matter what, I’m fighting Tyron Woodley and it’s going to be in Madison Square Garden. No ifs, ands or buts, man. I mean, come on, man. Come on, UFC. Come on, Tyron. You’ve got to give it to me.”
“If they don’t give this to me, then something is really wrong… In my head I’m getting this shot. I’ve got to put my foot down.”
Although it wasn’t a massive upset, Lawler was still the favourite to beat Woodley in UFC 201’s main event. Thompson reckons that the Lawler we all know and love, the one that went five rounds with Johny Hendrick, Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit didn’t show up to fight Woodley, and he has his theories why.
“He did land that one punch, but it wasn’t enough for me. He did land that one-punch, but we all know that wasn’t the same Robbie. That wasn’t the Robbie that we all expected and I think he knows that.”
“Every fight that he’s had since he was champion has been five five-minute round wars and sometimes you can see in fighters eyes if they want to be out there or not. I almost got the feeling that he didn’t want to be out there for some reason. Maybe he didn’t put in the work, like he should. Maybe he’s gotten himself into a rut. Maybe it’s something mental, because everyone has been questioning his chin and he knows that Tyron has power.”
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