"This dude is taller than me" - Stephen Thompson surprised that 6 foot 1 Chase Hooper makes featherweight

Stephen Thompson is a premier UFC fighter who continues to grow Karate's presence in MMA. Although 'Wonderboy' is still an active fighter, the UFC welterweight has other adventures, such as coaching at his father Ray Thompson's gym Upstate Karate.

One UFC fighter who has recently sought out Thompson's help is Chase Hooper. 'The Dream' is 22 years old, 3-2 in the UFC, and has unbelievable jiu-jitsu skills. The problem is that he has recently struggled against fighters that can negate his grappling due to his lack of striking abilities.

Hooper recently started training with 'Wonderboy' at Upstate Karate to improve his striking. The new coach/training partner has already benefited 'The Dream', who scored a third-round TKO against Felipe Colares at UFC Vegas 55.

During a podcast on his YouTube channel, Thompson had this to say about the 22-year-old:

"Our fellow friend competed this past weekend, Chase Hooper. I think he was second on the card. He looked phenomenal, looked really good. What surprises me is how this dude is taller than me, probably 6'1-6'2, he's taller than I am and walks around 180-185. I might be wrong, but I could have sworn I heard him say 180. And he fights at 145."

Hooper made striking improvements from his last fight, but he still has a long journey ahead of him. Luckily, the young prospect has plenty of time to evolve into a future title contender.

Hopefully, 'The Dream' continues to develop his striking abilities because his jiu-jitsu will always be a threat.

Watch Stephen Thompson discuss Chase Hooper below:

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Stephen Thompson explains his success and failures with recent weight cuts

Stephen Thompson and his friend 'Sweet Tea' ended up joking about the former two-time welterweight title challenger making a weight cut to 145 pounds. 'Wonderboy' went on to say that his weight cut to welterweight was "getting harder," but then decided to further explain.

During the same podcast, the 39-year old had this to say:

"Getting to 170 is getting harder for my body... Ok, I take that back. The Geoff Neal fight, weight cut was phenomenal. The Burns fight, I threw up in front of everybody... My last one was actually pretty good. The weight cut was great. It's just maybe I had some chicken that didn't sit well with me before the cut... Anyway, my stomach was hurting, and I threw up."

Thompson has been in the UFC since 2012, with a handful of ups and downs. Despite accomplishing plenty in his career, 'Wonderboy' has never been able to win a UFC title.

If he plans to make those dreams come true, the Karate practitioner needs to turn things around quickly after losing his last two fights.