#3 Stephen Thompson
Stephen Thompson should perhaps be the poster boy of what one can accomplish if as a child, one is exposed to martial arts and it’s stunning and fierce world of competition and incessant practice.
Work ethic then is something that must now come naturally to Thompson, considering the thousands of hours he had already put in martial arts before entering the world of MMA.
Being a world class kickboxer with an astounding record of 57 wins and no losses, Stephen came into the sport of MMA as a very dazzling prospect and one that many promotions were looking out for.
After making his UFC debut with a record of only 5-0, Thompson took the first step on his way to the Welterweight championship. Apart from one loss against veteran Matt Brown, Thomson hardly ever lost a round on his rise to the top. But the Brown loss forced him to reconcile with his weakness in wrestling.
Thompson then relocated to train with his brother-in-law and former Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman in New York. This served as the missing piece in his game and worked wonders to keep the fight standing up.
Thompson then again went on an absolute tear with a seven-fight win streak, including being the first man to stop the extremely durable former Welterweight Champion Johnny Hendricks. A win that resulted in a title shot against champion Tyron Woodley, which became an instant classic and ended in a majority draw with a rematch underway.
Thompson is perhaps one of a kind, in utilising a traditional American kickboxing stance in which he has his hands down and recruits an unexpected amount of kicks from his front foot. A foot that has been trained extensively in his kickboxing career to be more agile than usual and with swift, pendulum-like movements.
Thompson shares a lot of movement patterns with Dominick Cruz but without a mixture of offensive wrestling. He gives it his own twist, using threatening front foot kicks to maintain distance and startling spinning attacks without worrying too much about a takedown.
The fighting style that Thompson employs is truly one of a kind and is almost impossible to emulate. Acting as a torchbearer after Lyoto Machida for bringing back traditional martial arts to MMA, Stephen Thompson is a truly creative Mixed martial artist.
