There are moments that immediately create excitement for mixed martial arts fighters. On Sunday night, Stephen Thompson’s highlight-reel finish of Jake Ellenberger at The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale wasn’t just one of those moments, it was surely the biggest win of his career to date. However, going forward, we have to question whether we should temper our expectations for the man known as “Wonderboy.”
Three years ago at UFC 143, Thompson was the talk of the town for a moment after he hit one of the prettiest head kick knockouts you will ever see on Daniel Stittgen. The multiple-time kickboxing champion was immediately lauded for his technical prowess in the striking arts. And with every new story that came out about his pedigree and being a training partner of then-welterweight-champion Georges St. Pierre, it was as if the expectations for Thompson’s rise grew at every moment.
Matt Brown would immediately deflate those hopes, at least for a moment, when he dominated Thompson at UFC 145. This has been the only hiccup in Thompson’s career, but it created a stream of questions around how well he would compete when matched against the best that the 170-pound weight class had to offer. His one-sided victory over Ellenberger should change that.
According to the FightMetric report, Thompson did more than enough to control the bout before putting away Ellenberger with the spinning hook kick. Thompson was very accurate on the feet, as he landed 20 of 35 significant strikes in just 4:29 worth of action. His ability to land at will negated Ellenberger’s aggressive wrestling and even let him set up a takedown of his own (which is an area in which he’s been working with GSP and Chris Weidman). All of that success set up the finish, which will surely be among the best knockouts of the year once 2015 is complete.
The question now is where Thompson goes from here. He currently sits just outside of Top 10 at welterweight, but that should change fairly soon. A number of interesting fights are available, such as contests against Gunnar Nelson, Kelvin Gastelum, and Neil Magny. Each of these men performed well in past weeks, and each would add value to Thompson’s current streak of five straight wins. Expect the UFC to continue to book Thompson against men who are prone to get into striking exchanges where he can flourish. That was supposed to happen with Brown, but “The Immortal” has an ability to cause the kind of pressure that few are ready for in their second UFC bout. However, after this win, Thompson seems more poised, and he seems ready to make a run in the welterweight division.
Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson quietly built up excitement surrounding his MMA career, but after his win in the TUF 21 Finale main event, everyone is going to be excited to see what he brings to the cage next. And if he continues to put people out with fantastic stoppages like what he did to Jake Ellenberger, everyone involved should anticipate great moments in his future.
• Jake Ellenberger vs. Stephen Thompson: Stephen Thompson def. Jake Ellenberger via KO (spinning kick) at 4:29 of Round 1.
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The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale takes place on July 12, 2015 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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