There are a lot of dream fights out there for MMA fans, some of which they probably will never see.
Georges St-Pierre vs. Anderson Silva and Francis Ngannou vs. Jon Jones are just a couple of examples, but what about a striker’s delight matchup between Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and ‘The Last Stylebender’ Israel Adesanya?
‘That’s Tough’
While it’s unlikely to happen as Thompson looks to make one last title run at 170, not 185, the former title challenger has addressed the hypothetical fight of karate vs. kickboxing with the UFC Middleweight Champion. In case you forgot, ‘Wonderboy’ has finished the likes of another UFC Middleweight Champion, Robert Whittaker, but that was nearly a decade ago.
“It’s funny because I’m not a big welterweight,” Thompson told Middle Easy. “I probably walk around 195 at my heaviest. These guys are walking around like two 220. I mean, I train with Chris Weidman former middleweight champ and that dude is the strongest mama jama I have ever seen in my life. I’ve stood beside ‘Stylebender’, he’s a good head taller than me and see brother and crazy reach.
“I think it would be fun to train with him, maybe get a sparring match, but to fight that guy? I don’t know, man. That’s tough. I mean, with a guy that fights with range and he’s so good and kind of like I do. But his range is so much farther out than mine. He’s got the reach out of not just his legs, but his hands. And for me to get on, get on the inside of that will be very, very difficult.”
‘Y’all Crazy’
‘Wonderboy’ is more interested in training with Adesanya since he isn’t exactly behind the idea of taking on the two-time champ.
“I would love to like spar with him. We gotta like film that or something and put that out there. But I’ve seen a lot of people ask me that like, ‘Wonderboy vs. Stylebender?’ Y’all crazy… Y’all crazy, I don’t wanna fight that guy. Are you kidding me? That would be a fun [fight] though.
