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Stephen Thompson has revealed that he broke his left hand during his thrilling welterweight showdown against Kevin Holland. The Thompson-Holland matchup headlined the UFC Orlando fight card on December 3rd this past weekend.
After four rounds of a grueling back-and-forth striking war, Holland's corner opted to stop the fight after the fourth round and Thompson was declared the winner via TKO. Holland broke multiple bones in his right hand during the fight, which significantly contributed to the stoppage.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Stephen Thompson has now shown off his own injuries including facial bumps, cuts, bruises, and a swollen left hand. When asked how many stitches he received, 'Wonderboy' said:
"Oh, I have no idea. I've got one over my left eye. I don't know if you see it."
Displaying his broken left hand, Thompson explained that he didn't feel the injury until after the fight. Apparently, his hand swelled up after he took his gloves off, which is when he realized something was wrong. Thompson added:
"And, of course, the old hand. It's broken. I get an MRI tomorrow. We both... Kevin broke his right hand, and I broke my left hand. People are telling me they thought I broke it in the first or second round 'cause I hit him with the left hand and I shook my left hand out."
Watch Stephen Thompson's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Kevin Holland suffered a similar fate earlier on in the fight, breaking three knuckles in his right hand in the very first round. 'Trailblazer' fought on with a compromised hand all the way through to the fourth round, following which his coach Bob Perez opted to call a halt to the action.
Stephen Thompson on his title aspirations after UFC Orlando
During ESPN MMA's UFC Post Show, Stephen Thompson emphasized that he's still focused on winning the UFC welterweight title. 'Wonderboy' was unable to capture it in two previous attempts back in 2016 and 2017. Promising to showcase a better version of himself next time, Thompson said:
"You know what? The goal [of winning a title] is always on the top of the list... You sent me back in there very soon. [I've] got to get back to the drawing board, I still got some things I got to work on."
Catch Stephen Thompson's comments below:
Moreover, during the post-fight press conference, the 39-year-old insinuated that pursuing the title would mean fighting high-ranking welterweights, most of whom are elite grapplers.
'Wonderboy' indicated that while he's open to facing them, he'd also love to fight fellow striking specialists like Holland and put on fun fights irrespective of their ranking.
