The World Combat League (WCL) was a (now defunct) kickboxing promotion founded by martial arts legend Chuck Norris that catered to practitioners of traditional martial arts. It’s also where current UFC top contender and karate practitioner Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson got his first start.

In this YouTube video we see Thompson with his hands held low, focusing on his offense and elusiveness as his main defense opposed to the traditional high guard blocking stance seen in boxing. Thompson is able to land his kicks and punches pretty much at will. There is no wind up or hesitation to his strikes which is a trademark of an elite level karate practitioner.

Also apparent is the ‘karate blitz’ technique. He stays all the way on the outside and rushes in on his opponent with a variety of strikes overwhelming him in the process similar to what we see in the UFC from Lyoto Machida. He finally delivers his coup de grace to his overmatched opponent shortly after the three minute mark, dropping him with a perfectly timed roundhouse kick to the head. He set it up perfectly too with a one, two punch combination to give his opponent something to react to and BOOM! It’s over.

He is out, he will not be getting up, the commentator says. No kidding.

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About Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson:

Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is a current top contender in the UFC’s welterweight division. Known as a devastating striker and karate practitioner he has a highlight reel that rivals a prime Cro Cop.

His unique striking style comes from his extensive background in both karate and kickboxing, like we see in this video. With a UFC record of 7-1 with 5 knockouts he is right at the cusp of a UFC title shot.

His next fight takes place on June 18th at UFC Ottawa against the number one ranked contender Rory Macdonald.