Jorge Masvidal may currently be dealing with some outside-of-the-cage issues, but Stephen Thompson is hoping when that’s all settled, the two can mix it up inside the cage once again.
Thompson and Masvidal previously fought in a featured welterweight fight at UFC 217, with Thompson winning a wide unanimous decision. After that fight though, things changed dramatically for Masvidal, who reinvented himself as a knockout artist, won the “BMF” belt, and challenged Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title twice. Both men have struggled lately though, and as a result, Thompson thinks now is the time to run it back with “Gamebred.”
“I’m ranked one higher than Masvidal and he’s a striker. Give me a striker, UFC. Give me somebody that wants to stand there and strike, please!” Thompson said recently on The MMA Hour. “Masvidal would be awesome. We’ve been talking about this for a long time, the NMF [Nicest Motherf*****] vs. the BMF [Baddest Motherf*****]. I know Robbie Lawler was thrown out there as well. Even though he’s not ranked, he’s still an exciting opponent, a guy I’ve been trying to fight since he was champ, so there are some guys there.”
Masvidal is currently on a three-fight skid, having lost a pair of bouts to Kamaru Usman, and then dropping a unanimous decision to his bitter rival Colby Covington. The Covington loss was particularly difficult for Masvidal, as he simply had no answer to the wrestling-heavy attack that his former best friend brought to the cage. It’s a feeling that Thompson said he knows well, having suffered similarly in his most recent two bouts, though the “Nicest Motherf*****” did take issue with the things Masvidal allegedly has done since the bout.
“I’ve been there,” Thompson said. “I just wanted to give him a big hug, like, ‘I’ve been there, bro.’ I’ve been with the guy that’s just constantly taking you down, and he’s the guy that just wants to bang. Give him somebody that wants to fight and that will be a Fight of the Night for sure.
“So he wasn’t able to pull it off and then you’ve got the fight, on the street, after the fight, which I thought was like, come on guys. Come on, we get paid for this. Let’s go. You ain’t gotta be doing that in the street. So, it is what it is.”
Unfortunately for Thompson, the stars may not align for this rematch, at least not right now. With Masvidal managing his legal issues, it could be some time before “Street Jesus” steps back into the cage, and Thompson, who has not competed since December, is looking to return in the near future.
“Hopefully soon,” Thompson said when asked about his timeline to return. “After my last fight, I had a collar bone issue. Ended up tearing the cartilage in my collar bone, which is an old injury. I ended up injuring it during my Matt Brown fight, so that’s how long ago that goes. But I’ve healed up from it, I’m feeling good, back in training camp with Chris Weidman.
“We’ve been training together. The guy is a monster. He’s coming back strong and he’s feeling good, so hopefully we can come back on the same card. That would be dope.”
