Stephen Thompson recently used his striking expertise to bring MMA’s best stand-up fighters together.
This weekend, one of the best strikers in UFC history returns to the Octagon, as Alex Pereira looks to avenge his loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 320.
There are plenty of fighters who have crossed over to MMA from striking backgrounds, or developed into incredibly dangerous competitors while the fight stays standing.
‘Poatan’ is just one example of a fighter who has excelled inside the Octagon thanks to his ability to outstrike opponents.
Stephen Thompson, who is the oldest fighter on the UFC roster, recently used his knowledge to compile a list of his fellow elite striking specialists.
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Stephen Thompson includes Kevin Holland in his nine-man list of MMA’s greatest strikers
In a recent interview with Bloody Elbow, Stephen Thompson put together his list of the greatest strikers in the history of MMA, kicking things off with a man who has some legendary knockouts under his belt, Chuck Liddell.
Unsurprisingly, ‘The Iceman’ wasn’t the only legend who made the cut, with the likes of Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida also receiving early mentions.
Thompson also gave nods to several of his contemporaries, including a former opponent of his that will surprise some people.
In his most recent UFC win, Thompson overcame Kevin Holland in December 2022, with ‘Trailblazer’ clearly impressing him a lot in that fight.
“I think he’s got such a high fight IQ. He can fight everywhere, but he always wins the fight. He’s got such good striking and it’s kind of not looked at a whole lot. Me going out there, going four rounds with the guy, he almost finished me in the first round. With his striking, I think because he’s such a long fighter, he’s got great timing. People don’t realize how good of a striker this guy is.”
Though Thompson eventually cut himself off from adding more names to the list, admitting that he could do it for hours, listed below are the initial series of names that came to mind.
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| MMA fighter on Stephen Thompson’s list | MMA record | Wins via knockout |
| Chuck Liddell | 21-9 | 13 |
| Anderson Silva | 34-11-1 | 23 |
| Lyoto Machida | 26-12 | 11 |
| Michael ‘Venom’ Page | 24-3 | 13 |
| Kevin Holland | 28-14-1 | 14 |
| Jon Jones | 28-1-1 | 11 |
| Conor McGregor | 22-6 | 19 |
| Ilia Topuria | 17-0 | 7 |
| Petr Yan | 19-5 | 7 |
Stephen Thompson named another former foe as a targeted opponent for his return
When speaking to Bloody Elbow, Stephen Thompson said that he’s going to sit down with his team in the near future to talk about what the best plan for his return is.
With ‘Wonderboy’ wanting to make the final fight on his current contract count, the UFC’s event at the White House is one card that he has his eyes on.
Thompson revealed that a fan-made graphic of a dream fight card for the event got him thinking about competing in a rematch.
“It was me versus Jorge Masvidal 2. So, Masvidal’s a big Trump advocate so I know he had shown some interest in fighting on the card and I know that he wanted to run our fight back after I beat him at Madison Square Garden. So, I think it would be a really cool fight card to be on.”