When fighters go through the types of damaging battles that Stephen Wonderboy Thompson and Tyron Woodley put one another through in their UFC 205 welterweight title bout last November, they often simply can’t remember all of what happened. In that contest, Thompson was wobbled badly and then nearly choked-out.
With that much literal brain-rattling, Thompson admits that he doesn’t remember all of those difficult moments. “I don’t remember all of it. I had to go back and watch the tape, he tells The Extra Rounds Podcast.
“I saw the punches coming but I didn’t react to it. I didn’t move out of the way, I just took it to the face.
And that’s something you can’t do against someone who swings as hard as Tyron (laughs).
There is a moment that he does recall with clarity, however. After being hurt, badly, by punches, Thompson next remembered finding himself in a tight guillotine choke.
At that moment the title-challenger wasn’t certain that he would make it out of the choke with his consciousness in place. He did know, however, that he would not give up.
“Next thing you know, I had to go back and watch, but I do remember being in that guillotine and it being tight right off the back. But I literally said to myself, like I’m talking to you now – I’m not really sure if Tyron heard me or not – but I said, ‘All these people came to watch me fight. I’m not going to tap,’ he recounts.
“As soon as I said that, I felt his arm start to gas-out and I thought, ‘this is my chance to get out of here.’ But I remember saying that to myself. It was a choke and I was like, ‘you know what, I’m not going to tap to this. I’m not going to tap. I’m going to fight it off as long as I can and if I go out, I go out, but I’m going to fight this.’
Thompson had long ago decided against giving up, generally. So, when the option came up in that first fight with Woodley, the choice against it was clear.
Training with MMA champions like Georges St-Pierre is a big part of what drew the champion kickboxer into MMA, and seeing examples of gritting through pain, discomfort and danger, consequences be damned, helped mold Thompson into the man that would persevere at UFC 205.
“There’s a lot of moments and, I guess, emotions that people don’t see when you’re out there, he said.
“The training that you have to put yourself through to be able to go through things like that. That’s where most people would give up. That’s just not in me. I guess the training I put myself through, that I see these champions who I’ve trained with like Georges [St-Pierre], Rashad [Evans], Chris Weidman, the grueling, the grind that they put themselves through, they put themselves in bad positions to be able to get out, and uncomfortable positions to be able to go through that.
“When you get into those uncomfortable positions in the Octagon, you have to be able to fight through them. That’s grueling, man, but you know what – those guys are champions for a reason. That’s something I tried to take back from them and try to apply in my training, my mindset – that I’m not giving up.
About the author:
Elias Cepeda has served as a writer and editor covering mixed martial arts and combat sports, as well as public and cultural affairs, since 2005. He began as a staff writer for InsideFighting, and not long thereafter became publisher and editor of the page. Cepeda then went to write for Yahoo! Sports’ boxing and MMA pages, and edited their Cagewriter blog. He was hired away by FOX Sports, but after several years departed over philosophical differences with the executive leadership around important issues of journalism ethics. A student of and sometime competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA since 1999, Elias brings a unique and vibrant presence to reporting, and enjoys trying to highlight shared humanity and connect common experiences from seemingly different worlds.
