Rumors of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
After back-to-back losses, the 39-year-old veteran suddenly raised questions about his potential retirement, but he made an emphatic response with his performance on Saturday night as he dismantled Kevin Holland over four rounds in the UFC Orlando main event.
While recovering from an early punch that staggered him, Thompson only poured out the punishment until Holland’s corner mercifully ended the contest after the end of the fourth round. Victory puts “Wonderboy” back on track after a truly scintillating showcase.
“My last two shows, I lost to Grappler,” Thompson said afterwards. “I wanted to show the UFC and the fans that ‘Wonderboy is still here. I feel like 25. I’m still here for the long haul and I’m still going strong. He’s badass. Both of my hands are hurting from his hard noggin right now.”
With a pair of dynamic forwards in the cage, Holland and Thompson rarely had to worry about parrying takedowns, which meant they could unleash everything in the arsenal on their feet. A straight left hand was Thompson’s best shot early on as he continuously tagged Holland in almost every exchange.
Holland showed an incredible chin as he absorbed Thompson’s best punches and then fired back with a ton of power in his hands. As the welterweights continued to trade punches, Holland cracked Thompson with a nasty right hand that wobbled the two-time UFC title challenger.
Holland swarmed him, but Thompson survived the attack before the fighters returned to the center of the cage.
After recovering from the blow, Thompson settled into a rhythm as he began unleashing headbutts to keep up with his boxing combinations, and Holland struggled to keep up with his speed. Thompson’s quick hands and quick kicks really caused problems for Holland, as he was constantly tagged whenever he burst forward.
Thompson was surgical with his combinations when he really started popping Holland with his punches, which then allowed him to set up his creative kicks. Late in the third round, “Wonderboy” uncorked a hell of a spinning heel kick that exploded Holland, who ate the shot and just kept going.
As the momentum shifted heavily in Thompson’s favor, he then began aiming for Holland’s midsection as he took off several shots to the ribs. Holland was clearly injured from the body shots and he was pinned against the cage just to avoid further damage.
That led to Thompson then aiming for the head and throwing a series of spinkicks that kept blowing up Holland, but he refused to go down. However, the damage he absorbed was undeniable, and he was also struggling with an injury to his right hand as his trainers declared enough was enough and ended the fight.
“I think I hurt him in the first lap and it hurt after that,” Holland said of his hand injury. “A little quicker than I thought, but definitely what I expected.”
It was a classic performance from “Wonderboy,” long considered one of the UFC’s top 170-pound fighters, but back-to-back losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad had many wondering if his best days might be behind him.
Thompson certainly put those rumors to bed with his win on Saturday as he remains a constant threat to anyone and everyone in the welterweight rankings.