Wonderboy wins, welterweight gets weird (Heavy Hands)

Stephen Thompson was always going to be a dangerous matchup for Johny Hendricks, but who could have imagined that he would so utterly dominate…

By: Connor Ruebusch | 7 years ago
Wonderboy wins, welterweight gets weird (Heavy Hands)
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Stephen Thompson was always going to be a dangerous matchup for Johny Hendricks, but who could have imagined that he would so utterly dominate the former UFC welterweight champion?

Distance management was the key to Wonderboy’s victory on Saturday, and that’s the topic of our show today. We talk about how Thompson used his keen control of the distance to keep Hendricks at bay, keep himself off the fence, and ultimately walk “Bigg Rigg” into a series of devastating counters.

The larger question is whether Thompson, with his striking-based American Kenpo style, is an outlier, or a forerunner of a new breed of welterweights. In the post-GSP era, we discuss how the division may be on the cusp of a striking breakthrough.

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Connor Ruebusch
Connor Ruebusch

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