Opinion: ‘Wonderboy’ May Be UFC’s Most Dangerous Man
Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
Stephen Thompson’s first-round annihilation of Johny Hendricks was the formal announcement that “Wonderboy” has arrived and nobody in the welterweight division is safe.
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Thompson found out the hard way in 2012 when he faced Matt Brown. This wasn’t the resurgent Brown who won seven fights in a row at one point. This was the Brown who was 2-4 in his prior six outings. He planted Thompson on his back for the duration of their fight and proceeded to secure a unanimous decision victory.
Oh, how things have changed since then.
With the hype behind him, Thompson quietly shored up his game and has since reeled off six consecutive wins, pocketing three “Performance of the Night” bonuses along the way. His latest victory is easily his finest, as he became the first person to knock out former UFC welterweight champion Hendricks, the same man whose only losses in the last half decade were narrow decisions against Georges St. Pierre and Robbie Lawler. Wonderboy dominated Hendricks in a fashion that was, for the most part, unexpected.
The normally durable Hendricks found out quickly that Thompson has improved his takedown defense and understands the correct spacing to operate effectively in an MMA fight. Thompson has avoided being taken down in six straight fights, and much of that can be credited to his time spent training with Chris Weidman.
Thompson’s distance management is something else. Understanding where one needs to be in order to counter and the space one needs to travel in order to attack is a science that Wonderboy seemingly has under control. Thompson managed to surgically dissect every one of Hendricks’ moves and scored the knockout as a result. Standing six feet tall with a 75-inch reach, Thompson has the physical tools to thwart the advances of most wrestlers, and his shifty karate stance keeps any flat-footed fighter off balance.
All this begs the question: Is there a bigger threat to any division in the UFC than that of Thompson at 170 pounds?
It’s a frightening time to be a welterweight as long as Thompson continues to demonstrate the improvements that led him to slicing up Hendricks. Witnessing how he covers ground and is acutely accurate with his counterstrikes has certainly put people on notice. Some of the best and most diverse strikers the division has to offer are good at what they do -- Carlos Condit comes to mind -- but it’s arguable that none put it together like Thompson. Unlike Lyoto Machida, who used karate as a means of defense and primarily for counterstriking, Wonderboy’s karate is more like the whirling blades of a helicopter.
Without a St. Pierre double-leg takedown to neutralize Thompson’s striking, who is going to stop Wonderboy from claiming the welterweight title? Current welterweight king Lawler has a penchant for getting into firefights with his opponents; taking them to the mat has never really been his thing. Were he to face Thompson, Lawler would need to add that wrinkle to his repertoire or risk being clinically dissected. There can be little doubt that these two would put on a show, but the question is: Just how much resolve does Lawler have, considering the wars that he’s put his body through? We haven’t seen him slow down yet, but could Thompson be the perfect foil for the “Ruthless” one?
Maybe this is looking too far ahead. Maybe Hendricks has been backsliding and it wasn’t noticeable until now. It’s possible that a wrestler like Tyron Woodley could be the one to put Wonderboy on his back. But, as of this writing, it’s very hard to believe that anyone in the division can deal with this buzzsaw.
Andreas Hale is a content producer for Jay Z’s LifeandTimes.com and editor-in-chief of PremierWuzHere.com, as well as a frequent Sherdog.com columnist. Check out his archive here.
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