Fists Of Fury: Holland vs Thompson.
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As we roll into December, what better way to give the UFC fans an early Christmas present. A stylistic matchup that is sure to excite the masses on this joyous month.
Striker versus striker, a tale as old as time, but not one that ever goes unappreciated.
It also helps when you have two big names that bring excitement—usually—whenever they enter the octagon.
Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
There isn’t much to say about his status amongst the community. He is a legend known for his striking ability.
He would start his career as a karateka fighter completing in national kickboxing organizations. It is there where he would develop his unique style of striking, and showcase some devastating knockouts. Like this one.
He would accrue a record of 20-0 with one no contest before transitioning to MMA.
His first taste of the big leagues in a new sport would come at UFC 143, where he would knock out Dan Stittgen in the first round with a head kick. An iconic, and devastating one at that.
His six fight winning streak however, would be short lived as he would face another legend of the sport, Matt Brown, in his next fight.
Matt Brown would take advantage of Thompson’s inexperience with the ground game to control him and dominate him, earning him the nod and successfully taking Wonderboy’s 0.
However, Thompson is not called the (N)icest (M)other(F)ucker for nothing. And where there is kindness, there is a well of positivity. Stephen would use this to bounce back, claiming seven victories ik a row, with four finishes.
This would include a young Robert Whittaker at Welterweight:
Jake Ellenberger with a beautiful spinning back kick:
And Johnny Hendricks:
With such an impressive bounce back, the UFC would decide to reward him with a title shot—and a rematch afterwards.
However, on both attempts, he would come up short, and UFC gold would elude his grasps.
He would bounce back by putting on a masterful performance against Jorge Masvidal.
The UFC would try to push Thompson back into the title frame by matching him with undefeated contender Darren Till. However, he would come up short in a tough fought match.
Then, disaster would strike which would change the trajectory of Thompson’s career.
Stephen would face off against Anthony Pettis. He would look great for most of the fight, clearly winning in another amazing performance. However, everyone knows you only need one punch to change the outcome. And that punch did just that. A Superman punch caught Wonderboy flush, and he would receive his first, and only knockout loss in his career.
Many wondered what Wonderboy would do after such a devastating loss.
So he did what he always did, kicked some ass.
He would go on to dominate Vicente Luque in the standup and batter Geoff Neal in their match before finally slipping to where he is now.
A two fight skid at 39. All is not lost though, for his skills speak for themselves and he has an excellent chance to show them on a great opponent.
Kevin Holland, who is nicknamed Trailblazer —-and rightfully so— made a quick name for himself in the UFC due to his active fighting schedule, where he would fight five times alone in 2020.
His ability to talk smack in the octagon coupled with great athleticism and smooth knockouts is what kept his name circulating however.
He would start his rise to stardom by making quick work of Anthony Hernandez, finishing him in the first round.
He’d then go on to knock out Joaquin Buckley, who would later be known for one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history.
So how do you follow this up? You’ve already got four fights—after including a win over Stewart—and four wins. What could top it off, honestly?
By producing one of the strangest, and coolest, knockouts on a guy like Jacare Souza, of course. The Trailblazer way.
You know he had a dream about that once?
What he probably didn’t dream of, however, is such a quick bump to title contention. In his next two fights, Holland would be given the chance to claim a top five spot by fighting middleweights Derek Brunson and Marvin Vettori.
However, his blaze of glory would end there as he would lose both fights by decisions which would highlight his wrestling defense deficiency.
The power was still there though.
He’d then fight Kyle Daukaus in a fight that ended poorly for him to say the least. While he didn’t technically lose, to be temporarily knocked unconscious by a headbutt and subsequently choked out sucks to say the least.
This would result in a no contest, and, deciding something different for his career, he made his drop down to Welterweight.
There he’d accrue two finishes over Alex Oliviera and Tim Means.
However, Holland’s newly-earned streak would end when he faced off against Khamzat Chimaev, who would relentlessly force Kevin to the ground and submit him with a D’Arce.
Now, like his veteran opponent, he finds himself in a precarious position as he keeps moving forward to the next challenge.
Perhaps fate could have brought them together. Or really bad stylistic matchups previously. Either way, this has all the makings of an interesting stand-up battle.
The ever evasive style of Wonderboy clashing with the athleticism and flashiness of the Trailblazer.
Both men want to bounce back. Both men want their hand raised.
And everyone wants to tune in to see this fight.
As they should.
