Leon Edwards Likely “Regretting” Not Battling Me

Inspite of combating a lessen-rated opponent, Stephen Thompson is just happy to have his subsequent fight booked from Geoff Neal on Dec. 19.

“I’m just hunting get back out there and knock the cobwebs off a little bit,” Thompson informed MMA Information. “Because I experienced been out with some injuries and of course, the whole COVID factor happened. But yeah male, (Neal’s) challenging. I know he’s on a 5-combat profitable streak, a great boxer. So I just thought it would be a truly fantastic time to phase back in the octagon. Why not towards a man like Geoff Neal? He’s receiving superior each time that you see him battle, which makes the battle even more thrilling for me.”

Thompson (15-4-1) has not fought because a Nov. 2019 unanimous decision victory about Vicente Luque at UFC 244. The 37-yr-outdated tried using securing a combat from #3 ranked Leon Edwards, on the other hand the British isles standout wasn’t interested.

“(Edwards) was indicating that nobody was calling him out, so I’m like, I’ll call you out in my awesome phrases,” Thompson reported. “And he just variety of blew me off. It did not help him out a single bit. Him chatting all this smack stating ‘Everybody’s preserving my identify out their mouth’ and listen to a guy in the top 5 stating, ‘Hey, I’ll struggle you.’ Then him blowing me off, you know, it didn’t in shape well. And the admirers did not like it and now he’s combating Khamzat. I would rather obtain the number five male than any individual who’s not ranked at all, you know? So I really feel like perhaps he’s sort of regretting it now.”

Neal (13-2) was scheduled to combat Neil Magny at UFC Combat Night time in August just before a really serious wellbeing scare pulled him from the card. The 30-year-old is undefeated in the Octagon, with 5-straight victories.

Thompson isn’t using his opponent lightly, and is expecting a war against the Fortis MMA solution.

“I’m usually prepared for a a few, 5 moment round battle war,” Thompson claimed. “But I believe it’s a wonderful fight for me. And on prime of that, it’s a good battle for Geoff Neal for the reason that if he beats me, it puts him in the major five. So why you would I want to choose this battle? I believe proved myself from a fighter like him from Vicente Luque. I can take a hit and maintain on coming ahead. So devoid of offering also a lot away, I visualise myself in my hand raise at the finish of the battle.”

UFC Fight Night will take put on December 19th at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Leon Edwards battles Khamzat Chimaev in the major party.