Stephen Thompson responds to "no takedowns" retirement fight callout from undefeated Irish prospect

Stephen Thompson has responded to Ian Machado Garry calling out the American striking savant for a retirement fight that would exclude takedowns of any kind. The Irishman is one of the most exciting welterweight prospects out of Ireland and has gone undefeated so far in his 10-fight career.

It seems that 'Wonderboy' and 'The Future' struck up a friendship when their paths crossed at Karate Combat a few months ago. Since then, the two have trained together as well.

In an interview with GiveMeSport, Garry opened up about his friendship with Thompson and his experience training with 'Wonderboy' before his latest fight at UFC 276. The Irish welterweight prospect made his intentions of being Thompson's last opponent very clear during the interview and followed up with a tweet.

"Hey @WonderboyMMA save that final spot for me…no takedowns & we’ll put on a show."

Read the tweet below:

The No.6-ranked UFC welterweight responded to Garry's tweet with one of his own. Neither confirming nor denying his acceptance of the callout, Thompson wrote:

"Nothing but love and respect"

Stephen Thompson last fought Kevin Holland at UFC Orlando in what could easily be called one of the UFC's best fights of 2022. The two engaged in an enthralling battle before Thompson's elite striking pedigree helped him to a fourth-round stoppage victory.

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Stephen Thompson praises Molly McCann for her spectacular knockout of Luana Carolina at UFC London

Stephen Thompson recently expressed his admiration for Molly McCann's striking technique, which was on display at UFC London in March and won her the Performance of the Night bonus too.

At the UFC London event, Molly McCann fought Luana Carolina in a flyweight contest that saw the Liverpudlian knock her opponent out with a devastating spinning back elbow in the third round.

Check out the video below:

In a recent video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Stephen Thompson analyzed his favorite UFC knockouts of 2022. During the breakdown, 'Wonderboy' said that McCann's knockout of Carolina might be in the running for the Knockout of the Year award.

The 39-year-old praised the Liverpudlian flyweight for her spinning elbow strikes, saying:

"This could have been like, Knockout of the Year... Nobody would see that coming. She would knock me out with that, to be honest with you. Like, who throws that?... It's just something you don't see too often... That was just phenomenal timing. She had to have been working on that in camp but crazy KO right there."

Watch the full episode below:

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