STEPHEN ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson produced a nerveless performance in Ottawa to propel himself into the top contender spot in the UFC’s welterweight division.
Thompson outpointed former title challenger Rory MacDonald over five rounds to earn scores of 50-45, 50-45 and 48-47 on the judges’ scorecards for a clear unanimous decision victory, and the right to call himself the number-one contender for the UFC welterweight title.
The fight quickly turned into a tactical game of human chess as both fighters, wary of each other’s key strengths, fought conservatively throughout the contest.
But it was Thompson who scored most consistently, landing kicks from range, then punishing MacDonald with punches as the Canadian looked to close the distance.
It wasn’t the sort of spectacular performance we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the karate expert, but it showed maturity and calmness against his most dangerous opponent to date, and in the biggest fight of his professional career.
After the result was confimed, Thompson said there was only one fight option next for him.
“Title belt, baby!” he exclaimed.
“I want the winner of Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley. New York!”
Cowboy shoots down The Predator
Former UFC lightweight title challenger Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone looked like a million dollars as he defeated durable Canadian Patrick ‘The Predator’ Cote in the night’s co-main event.
Cerrone dropped Cote twice during the three-round contest and came close to finishing the Canadian with a submission before eventually finishing Cote by TKO.
‘Cowboy’ dropped Cote to the mat with a superb left hook, followed by a big right hook, before finishing him with ground strikes half-way through the final round.
It capped off one of the most impressive all-round performances of Cerrone’s 21-fight UFC career and announced him as a possible welterweight contender.
After the fight he told commentator Jon Anik he didn’t care which weight division he’s asked to fight in.
“70, 55… I don’t give a s**t,” he shrugged.
And for the super-active Cerrone, who loves nothing more than taking fights in quick succession, a spot on one of the three fight cards during International Fight Week in just over a fortnight’s time would be just the ticket.
“All I know is there’s 36 fights at UFC 200. I think I can get on one of those maybe. That would be cool!”
Elsewhere on the Main Card…
Canadian former ice hockey player Steve Bosse edged a barnburner of a light-heavyweight contest with American Sean O’Connell.
Both men left finesse back in the locker room as they both stepped into the Octagon with the same gameplan – stand and bang.
And after an incredible three rounds of action that saw both men hurt, the judges were surprisingly called into action to decide the winner.
And all three judges agreed, with the Canadian Bosse taking the win – and the acclaim of the crowd – after one a 15-minute slugfest that had the fans on their feet throughout.
Scotland’s Joanne Calderwood turned in the best performance of her UFC career to stop former strawweight title challenger Valerie Letourneau after a punishing – and at-times bizarre – flyweight contest to open the main card.
And Canadian lightweight prospect Olivier Aubin-Mercier survived an early scare to claim a third-round submission finish of Frenchman Thibault Gouti.
TV Prelims
The featured TV prelim saw Canada’s Jason Saggo edge a super-close fight with Brazilian Leandro ‘Buscape’ Silva after three keenly-contested rounds.
Saggo did just enough to edge it on two of the three judges’ scorecards as he took the split-decision win with scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.
Hulking Latvian-Canadian Misha Cirkunov produced a superb display to finish Romania newcomer Ion Cutelaba after a lively light-heavyweight affair.
Cirkunov stood and traded bombs with the Romanian in Rounds 1 and 2 before taking him to the mat in the third and locking up a beautiful arm-triangle choke to score a highlight-reel submission finish.
The first big KO of the night came courtesy of a big left hand from Poland’s Krzsyztof Jotko, who starched Tamdan McCrory in just 59 seconds.
And in the opening TV preliminary bout Joe Soto produced a late comeback to defeat Chris Beal after an entertaining bantamweight battle between the pair went into the final moments.
After sharing the opening two rounds, Beal appeared to be edging the final frame before Soto struck, taking Beal to the mat and locking up a rear-naked choke to force the tap with just over a minute remaining.
UFC Fight Pass Prelims
Russian flyweight Ali Bagautinov scored a solid win over UFC debutant Geane Herrera after an entertaining three rounds, while welterweight all-American wrestler Colby Covington registered the first finish of the evening with a final-round rear-naked choke finish of another UFC first-timer, Jonathan Meunier.
Canada’s Randa Markos scored the first home win of the night with a hard-earned decision win over Jocelyn Jones Lybarger. And that win was followed up by another Canadian victory, as Elias Theodorou laboured to a nondescript decision victory in a disappointing bout with Sam Alvey.
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