Stephen Thompson on KO punch from Anthony Pettis: ‘I know I’ve been hit harder than that’

[KazDibiase]

As his opponent screamed in victory, Thompson slowly regained consciousness as doctor’s rushed to his side. Cameras would later show him congratulating Pettis before taking pictures with fans as he exited the Octagon. Too bad, Thompson has no recollection of this.

“I remember the first round very well and I don’t remember the second round very well,” Thompson told Luke Thomas during appearance on The MMA Hour. “But, I remember going back to the corner and having his blood all over my chest. I’m looking and he’s leaking from his nose and I’m like ‘Man, did I break his nose?’ After that, it’s kind of blank. I literally come to in the back. I see Chris Weidman, I see my mom, I see my brother and I don’t remember being out in the cage or walking back or taking pictures with everybody. I don’t remember that at all.”

Right up until the finishing blow, Thompson seemed to be cruising towards a victory. Outstriking his opponent in both rounds, “Wonderboy” even remembers the exact moment he saw victory in his future.

But to Thompson, that was his downfall.

“I didn’t expect him stand right there in front of me,” said Thompson. “But, he actually met me in the middle and started coming at me. He did throw a lot of leg kicks but I remember thinking his strikes with punches were kind of slow in the first round. Like ‘Man, this isn’t going to take long at all.’ That’s what you get for thinking.

“The gameplan was to really pump the jab and get him back up a bit and then look for the knockout from there. He did keep his hands up fairly high, which made that fairly difficult. So I started going to the body as well with my own body kick to try to get him to drop those hands a little bit. In the later rounds, I figured that those body shots would wear his body down and he’d dropped his hands and the knockout would be a little easier. But, we never made it to that point.”

For fans, the site of Thompson’s unconscious body sprawled out on the mat should have come as shock, especially at the hands of a former 155-pound fighter, who’s even dabbled at 145 pounds. After all, Thompson not only survived the onslaught from former 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley but came back stronger in the following round during their title fight at UFC 205.

“I know I’ve been hit harder than that, I know Tyron has hit me harder that,” said Thompson. “Why did this punch affect me like it did? The only thing I can think of is it just being right on the money. Sometimes, that’s all it takes. I threw a sidekick that kind of glanced off of his him and put in a bad position where my right foot was trailing to the outside of him, which put me closer to him. I know his back was to the cage, so all he had to do was lunge forward and, of course, when you’re throwing your punch with your whole body behind it, it makes it that much more powerful and the last three or four inches is where the power comes from. So, throwing that straight right down the pipe, that’s what did it.

“It took me a while to figure it out and go back and watch it. It didn’t look like it was that much. Especially after Tyron put me down and didn’t put me away. I’m sitting there thinking ‘Why was that?’ But, you know, it doesn’t have to take a gorilla of a punch to put you away. You put it right on the spot and that’s all it takes.”

But while he declared his brain was “fine” from the blow, Thompson is in no rush to return to the Octagon, even if it means losing out on a spot on the UFC Greenville card he’s been calling for.

“I know there’s a fight in my hometown in three months. So, we’re going to see how we feel in two weeks. I’m not going to push it at all, especially after a knock down like that. I don’t want to jump back too soon. So, I don’t know.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

 

[blaseblah]

He didn't see it coming, that's why it put him out.

 

[Druken_Vovchanchyn]

yeah woodley blasted him, i dont think hes wrong. I wonder if his chin is wasted from accumulation

 

[Deleted member 545701]

Same with Stipe

Guy got hit clean by Francis and didn't go out, but when he didn't see the punch from DC, he got his lights shut off.

Its usually the one you don't expect / see coming

 

[JabToucher]

 

[beephin]

4oz gloves.
This is MMA.

You just gotta find the sweet spot.

 

[da best eva]

Time will tell, but it was probably just a case of him not seeing it coming right on the button.

 

[TNGS1]

Precision beats Power

 

[ApplesVild]

Take some time off, no point risking more damage just because it's in your home town.

 

[Natural Order]

It ain't about how hard you're hit, it's about where you're hit and the physics involved. Certainly strength factors into that scenario, but we've seen time and time again guys get flatlined by relatively weak punches due to their precision and timing (See Weidman/Silva, Silva/Griffin, Conor/Aldo).

 

[KingBeef]

 

[Natural Order]

When I first watched the fight I was certain that side kick cocked him sideways to a point where he lost sight of Pettis and the superman punch (an unseen punch is the deadliest punch). Slow mo gifs it doesn't appear that he lost complete sight, but I could be wrong.

 

[Natural Order]

Pettis found the G-spot.

 

[Verace]

He says he doesnt remember anything except for the first round, but he remembers how hard the punch was?

Interesting....

 

[snootylol]

Same with Stipe

Guy got hit clean by Francis and didn't go out, but when he didn't see the punch from DC, he got his lights shut off.

Its usually the one you don't expect / see coming

Hard to see a punch coming when both your eyes have been poked

 

[GueseGuy]

Getting punched in the head is a lottery. Sometimes you go out sometimes you can take the shot. Can’t predict these things.

 

[JabToucher]

Hard to see a punch coming when both your eyes have been poked

He's training with Jon now?

 

[Jon's Drug Dealer]

Hard to see a punch coming when both your eyes have been poked

Are you brainlets still sticking to this narrative? Also, DC seems to be incredibly strong at HW these days. He gave Stipe two black eyes and cuts with jabs well before the KO.

 

[VIPERdude]

As his opponent screamed in victory, Thompson slowly regained consciousness as doctor’s rushed to his side. Cameras would later show him congratulating Pettis before taking pictures with fans as he exited the Octagon. Too bad, Thompson has no recollection of this.



Right up until the finishing blow, Thompson seemed to be cruising towards a victory. Outstriking his opponent in both rounds, “Wonderboy” even remembers the exact moment he saw victory in his future.

But to Thompson, that was his downfall.



For fans, the site of Thompson’s unconscious body sprawled out on the mat should have come as shock, especially at the hands of a former 155-pound fighter, who’s even dabbled at 145 pounds. After all, Thompson not only survived the onslaught from former 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley but came back stronger in the following round during their title fight at UFC 205.



But while he declared his brain was “fine” from the blow, Thompson is in no rush to return to the Octagon, even if it means losing out on a spot on the UFC Greenville card he’s been calling for.




https://www.mmafighting.com/platfor...&utm_source=twitter&__twitter_impression=true

Wonder Boy would be an amazing contender, not fighter, he already is an amazing fighter. Contender, I dont feel he will ever be there again. He has the talent to run through the WW division and maybe some of the MW division. He just does not have the capability to take a shot anymore. We dont have to be experts to have seen in many of our favorite fighters, Machida, Shogun, Fedor...after taking enough punches to the face your chin is going to eventually say NO MORE.

With the style Wonder Boy has he is a fighter that doesnt seem able to finish top tier fighters, he depends on score cards, points. He needs a chin that is going to hold up 5 rounds (if he stays main eventing), thats a problem.

 

[CPH]

'Cruising towards victory' is nonsense. Pettis was in it, landing at over 50% and dealing damage.