We don't deserve fighters like Stephen Thompson.
Stephen Thompson was a comfortable number one contender in the UFC's welterweight division. He took champion Tyron Woodley the distance in back-to-back five-round title fights. The first ended in a cruel majority draw, the sequel was a cruel majority decision in favour of 'the Chosen One'.
After losing to Woodley, he scored an emphatic win over top contender Jorge Masvidal. Then when it came time for the UFC to put on an interim welterweight title fight, they passed over 'Wonderboy'. Instead, Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos got the nod to compete for the belt.
When the UFC wanted an elite opponent for Darren Till in their Liverpool debut, Wonderboy accepted the call. He was willing to fight a 25-year-old who was significantly lower down the rankings. When Till missed weight, he was more than willing to accept the forfeited purse to allow the fight to go on.
Then, for the duration of the fight, he was booed. The crowd inside the Echo Arena cheered everytime their guy landed a strike. Whenever Thompson found home, they fell deathly silent. While many of those watching at home thought Wonderboy had done enough to win the fight, the judges' saw it differently. They awarded it 48-47, 49-46, 49-46 in favour of Till.
Through all of that, Wonderboy had a smile washed across his face.
https://twitter.com/mikefridley/status/1000831831237955584
While the bout was too close to be branded as a robbery, the MMA community appears to be in agreement that the wrong man had his hand raised. The two cards that had Till winning four rounds had a lot of folks raising their eyebrows after the fact.
https://twitter.com/ILLxWillBrooks/status/1000832176773042177
https://twitter.com/ILLxWillBrooks/status/1000832234939736064
https://twitter.com/RJcliffordMMA/status/1000830484379721728
https://twitter.com/MMAdamMartin/status/1000831279401709568
https://twitter.com/lthomasnews/status/1000829981914796035
