“Vicente Luque was on a seven-fight winning streak. These guys are up and coming, these guys are soon to be the faces of the UFC in the future, possibly be champions. So to be able to test myself against these guys now is just great.”
Giving dangerous young fighters a chance to come for everything you’ve worked for might seem like a flat-out lie if it were coming from anyone besides Stephen Thompson. But spend five minutes with Wonderboy and you’ll know he means it.
“I’m treating this fight as if it’s the champion that I’m fighting. Geoff Neal has got some power in his hands. He’s a big body. He’s a big welterweight. Strong. So I think he’s going to try to use that to his advantage in this fight, especially with it being in a smaller cage. I wanted to get a fight in this year, and Geoff Neal was it. He’s a tough, up-and-coming fighter, undefeated in the UFC. He’s been knocking dudes out, so he’s a very dangerous opponent. I was in his shoes not too long ago, trying to work my way up the division, and you had guys like Jake Ellenberger and Johny Hendicks giving me the opportunity. Giving that back, giving these guys the opportunity to work their way up? That’s awesome. Obviously, my goal is to go out there and win, but on top of that, going out there and giving these guys a chance.”
