STEPHEN Thompson, who just climbed to no. 2 in the welterweight division, is looking forward to having a title shot in the coming months.
Thompson, also known as “The Wonder Boy,” is coming off the biggest win of his career after knocking out former Ultimate Fighting Championship titlist Johny Hendricks three weeks ago.
He is now setting his sights on a possible showdown with either top-ranked welterweight fighter Robbie Lawler or no. 1 contender Rory McDonald.
“I just moved up to no. 2. If it’s not Lawler, there’s one guy ahead of me, and that’s McDonald,” said the 33-year-old Thompson during a meet-and-greet Wednesday at the Marco Polo Hotel in Ortigas Center, Pasig.
At the meet-and-greet, Thompson talked about his exploits, in which he brought down Hendricks in just a little over 3 minutes in the first round.
His latest outing gave him a 12-1 win-loss record in a six-year stint with UFC.
In the same event, UFC announced a multi-year partnership with Smart, which will be the official and exclusive mobile carrier of UFC through Smart Bro.
The deal was formalized between Smart Broadband Marketing Head Pam Santiago and UFC executive vice president Kenneth Berger.
At UFC 195 last Jan. 2, Lawler defended his title and defeated Carlos Condit via a split decision in a very close fight.
On the other hand, McDonald had a rematch with Lawler on July 11 last year at UFC 189, and lost the fight via technical knockout in the fifth round.
Smart will also be a provider of UFC Fight Pass, a digital platform which will give fans with exclusive content and access to fighters.
Thompson is currently undefeated through 37 amateur and 20 professional kickboxing matches, 28 wins of which coming by knockout.