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While eyes will be on the UFC 264 main event between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier, there’s also a lot on the line in the co-main between Stephen Thompson and Gilbert Burns.
Stephen Thompson finds himself at a crossroads of sorts at UFC 264, but could he really earn a shot at the UFC welterweight title with a win?
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It’s certainly not out of the realm of possibility, as UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has been turning back all comers and will soon be ready for another challenge.
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With that in mind, here are three reasons why Stephen Thompson deserves a UFC welterweight title shot if he beats Gilbert Burns at UFC 264:
#1 Stephen Thompson represents a fantastic stylistic challenge to Kamaru Usman
The UFC is always searching for ways to put on compelling matches for the fans, but that job becomes more challenging if a UFC champion becomes overly dominant.
Right now, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is approaching that stage. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has not lost any of his 14 fights inside the octagon and looked more dominant than ever in his recent knockout win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261.
Usman has destroyed grapplers like Demian Maia and Gilbert Burns, wrestlers like Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington, and a deadly striker in Masvidal. However, he hasn’t fully cleaned out the division.
That’s because Stephen Thompson offers him an entirely different stylistic challenge.
‘Wonderboy’ is perhaps the greatest example of how traditional martial arts can work inside the UFC. Stephen Thompson is a longtime practitioner of karate and American kickboxing. His fighting style is built around an ability to stay out of his opponent’s range while catching them with pinpoint strikes from unorthodox angles.
‘Wonderboy’ has used his style to beat the likes of Rory MacDonald, Johny Hendricks, and Jorge Masvidal.
As good as Kamaru Usman has looked since he arrived in the UFC, he hasn’t fought an opponent with the style of Stephen Thompson. This makes a clash between the two probably the most compelling fight the UFC could make at welterweight.
If ‘Wonderboy’ can get past Gilbert Burns at UFC 264, the promotion should definitely look to make a title fight between him and Usman in the near future.
#2 With a win over Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson would hold wins over the previous two title challengers
There are several different ways to earn a title shot in the UFC. Fighters can go on lengthy winning streaks or even trash-talk their way into a shot. However, the easiest path seems to be to defeat a former UFC champion or defeat a former UFC title challenger.
Stephen Thompson did both on his way to his initial shot at the UFC welterweight title in 2017. ‘Wonderboy’ defeated former champ Johny Hendricks and former title challenger Rory MacDonald in back-to-back fights, earning him a shot at then-champion Tyron Woodley.
Going into UFC 264, ‘Wonderboy’ is in a similar situation. It’s easy to forget, given that it happened in 2017, but Thompson defeated the most recent UFC welterweight title challenger – Jorge Masvidal – in one-sided fashion at UFC 217.
Thompson's more recent wins over Geoff Neal and Vicente Luque came over fighters considered prospects rather than contenders. However, if he were to beat Gilbert Burns this weekend, he’d find himself in a unique spot.
Essentially, he’d hold wins over current UFC welterweight champ Kamaru Usman’s last two challengers. This could definitely allow an argument for him being warranted a shot at ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
Comparing that to Usman’s other potential challengers – Leon Edwards and Colby Covington – reveals quite a contrast. Edwards has never beaten a former UFC welterweight champion or title challenger. Covington’s only recent win came over Woodley, who had already lost to Burns.
That means that a win over Burns is probably better than anything achieved by either Edwards or Covington – and could be enough to net Stephen Thompson the next UFC welterweight title shot ahead of them.
#3 Stephen Thompson’s UFC record is highly underrated
Many fighters have somewhat underrated UFC records despite having plenty of highly impressive wins on their ledger. It’s safe to say that Stephen Thompson is probably one of those fighters.
‘Wonderboy’ holds an overall UFC record of 11-4-1, which doesn’t seem that impressive on the face of it. But look a little closer, and it becomes an eyebrow-raiser.
Stephen Thompson holds wins over five former UFC champions or title challengers. He even became the first man in the UFC to stop former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker when he knocked him out in 2014 – something that only Israel Adesanya has managed since.
All four of his losses can be given a caveat of sorts, too.
His loss to Matt Brown came back in 2012 when ‘Wonderboy’ was still largely a neophyte in the world of MMA. His losses to Tyron Woodley and Darren Till were both largely contentious decisions. It is arguable that if his second fight with Woodley had different judges, he could’ve ended up holding the UFC welterweight title.
Only Anthony Pettis has beaten him in a “clean” fashion, but even 'Showtime' was losing the fight before uncorking a wild superman punch.
Leon Edwards has a lengthier winning streak than ‘Wonderboy’, while Colby Covington holds a win over Woodley, who Thompson failed to beat twice.
However, if ‘Wonderboy’ defeats Gilbert Burns at UFC 264 this weekend, he’d add another huge name to his ledger. It would then be hard to argue that Edwards or Covington’s UFC records could trump his own.
That should be enough to earn Stephen Thompson the next shot at Kamaru Usman’s UFC welterweight title.
