Getty UFC Fighter Colby Covington.
Top-ranked UFC welterweight contender Colby “Chaos” Covington doesn’t have a fight lined up right now, and Stephen “Wonder Boy” Thompson would like nothing more than to change that. Thompson challenged Covington to a showdown via social media on Monday.
Thompson posted, “If I’m not scary….fight me! @ColbyCovMMA”.
If I’m not scary….fight me! @ColbyCovMMA
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Covington vs. Thompson?
Covington berated Thompson and several other welterweight stars during a recent interview with Submission Radio. In that chat, the 33-year-old American hailed himself as the “welterweight king” and said that nobody at 170 could stop him.
Covington hasn’t fought since dominating former champ Tyron Woodley in September 2020 in a five-round stoppage win.
According to that same Submission Radio interview, Covington was recently offered the chance to face No. 3-ranked contender Leon Edwards, but the brash former interim champ declined it.
Instead, Edwards fought Belal Muhammad in a fight that was declared a no-contest after Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye.
The foul was ruled accidental, and a rematch between Edwards and Muhammad is not expected.
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What About Thompson?
Meanwhile, Thompson is currently riding a two-fight win-streak. The 38-year-old kickboxing specialist defeated Muay Thai practitioner Vicente Luque at UFC 244 in November 2019 and perennial welterweight contender Geoff Neal in December 2020.
But Thompson has become somewhat of the forgotten contender at 170. He’s currently ranked No. 5, but he hasn’t been able to lure any of the other top contenders into important fights that would help move his career forward.
So what’s next for Thompson? Well, that’s a great question.
UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman seems to be headed into a rematch against Jorge Masvidal next. That’s an important battle in the welterweight division, but it also means Thompson’s call-outs of both stars were unsuccessful and he’s being left out in the cold.
Thompson called out Masvidal in his post-fight interview after his last win in December to no avail, and he used social media just this week to challenge Usman.
Thompson tried his best to grab his shot at gold, “…I’m ready! Let’s do it!”
Well, since Leon is rematching @bullyb170 next, that makes me next in line for @USMAN84kg ! I’m ready! Let’s do it! 👊🏼👊🏼 @ufc
Two weeks ago, Masvidal revealed the Usman vs. Masvidal rematch would take place in either August or September. The long wait there apparently has something to do with the UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter” television series.
Regardless, that leaves Covington, Gilburt Burns and Edwards as the fighters (ranked above Thompson) who don’t have fights scheduled right now, so it appears Thompson might simply be moving down that list in hopes of getting a big fight at 170.
Thompson is one of the best fighters in the world, and getting his next fight lined up has become increasingly important to him.
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Colby Covington Challenged: ‘Fight Me!’