“I think people would boo this fight”

41-year-old Stephen Thompson knows he is much closer to the end of his mixed martial arts career than the beginning.

Although he is more than happy to take on the new blood at the top of the welterweight division, such as his next fight against Joaquin Buckley at UFC 307, “Wonderboy” still has a few big fights ahead of him before he retires.

Two names in particular stand out at middleweight because their striking pedigree would allow Thompson to do what he does best rather than spend his final fights fending off takedowns.

Ian Garry faced Michael “Venom” Page at UFC 303, where the undefeated Irishman continued his rise up the rankings by relying on his takedowns to earn the win.

Many would like to see Thompson in both fights, but he is only comfortable with one of the two options.

Stephen Thompson explains why he is willing to fight Ian Garry, but not Michael “Venom” Page

In an interview with Michael Bisping about the Believe me, I-PodcastThompson expressed his thoughts on the duel against Garry and Page before hanging up his gloves.

Garry, who is ranked 7th above “Wonderboy”, is definitely ready for this fight but can understand why the Irishman is not so keen on it given his winning streak.

“I think it would be great, especially Ian Garry, but right now I see where he is, he's just looking for gold. I don't think he would even give me a chance. I'm 9th, he's close to the title, I think that's his next target.”

From the moment “MVP” signed his contract with the UFC, watching the Page-Thompson duel was an exciting experience for fans as the two are such excellent striking specialists.

However, both men expressed the view early on that the fight would probably be pointless because they were too similar and it would end in a stalemate.

“And I think it would be MVP. I think the fans would love that fight, but…”

After Bisping joked that it would be nothing more than both men keeping their hands down and circling each other, Thompson explained in detail why he is not that interested in this fight, even though it seems like it is something fans want to see.

“That's it, I think that would be it. We're just moving around the whole time and staring at each other. We're both counter-fighters, you know, we have that karate background, we want the guys to come forward so they can execute our techniques so we can exploit our angles and blitz, but if you have another counter-fighter on the other side of the Octagon, it could potentially be one of the most boring fights ever and I think people would boo it. I think people would boo this fight, I really do, man.”

Thompson also referred to Garry's fight against Page, where he wanted to apply pressure rather than hit back with “MVP.”

He gave this as a reason why the duel against Garry would not have the same result as the one against Page.

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