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Stephen Thompson sees surging Michel Pereira or Kevin Holland as 'right' next fight

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Stephen Thompson is being wisely selective when it comes to his next fight.

Thompson (16-6-1 MMA, 11-6-1 UFC), a former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger, is currently on a two-fight losing skid after getting outworked by the grappling of Belal Muhammad and Gilbert Burns.

Although Thompson fully understands and accepts that wrestling is part of the sport, he also knows there are plenty of names in the division who would be more willing to oblige to his striking-based style.

“Wonderboy” hasn’t seen action since losing to Muhammad at UFC Fight Night 199 in December, and while he would usually have fought again by now or at least have a fight scheduled, Thompson, who is currently spending his time as a sensei for Season 4 of Karate Combat – which returns Saturday night and airs live on the promotion’s website – knows this is a moment in his career where he has to be smart.

“Getting the right fight for my next one, I think that has a lot to do with maybe why it’s taking so long,” Thompson told MMA Junkie. “I’m always training, I’m always getting better. I’ll be 40 next year but I feel like I’m 25, to be honest with you. I think it has a lot to do with the way that I train. I still feel good. I’m still learning every day.”

Thompson, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, said he sees plenty of good options at 170 pounds. It’s just a matter of bringing something to fruition.

He said he’ll be keeping a “very close” eye on the winner of Robbie Lawler vs. Bryan Barberena next weekend at UFC 276, and he’s also made social media callouts of Dustin Poirier, Nate Diaz and Nick Diaz in recent months.

Additionally, Thompson said he’s happy to give opportunities to the next generation of names in the weight class. He sees Michel Pereira (27-11 MMA, 6-2 UFC) and Kevin Holland (23-7 MMA, 9-4 UFC) as two fighters who are on the come-up, and although they are below him in the rankings, he would be willing to give either man a chance.

“You got a lot of guys that are coming up,” Thompson said. “You’ve got Pereira, who just came off of a win. I think he just beat (Santiago) Ponzinibbio. He’s a good one. Obviously, you have Kevin Holland who just won his fight. I know he’s calling out Sean Brady, but he’s definitely a guy who is moving up the rankings quick. He was great at 185, he made the cut to 170 fairly easy. There’s a lot of guys that I’m keeping my eye on, because they’re coming up the rankings pretty quick and they’re dangerous guys. There’s a lot of guys.”

One name Thompson isn’t particularly keen to fight, he said, is the undefeated Brady (15-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC). It’s a matchup he openly admits he’s not eager to do at the moment, especially given how his past two have gone.

“I know Sean Brady has called me out, but Sean Brady, I know exactly what he’s going to do,” Thompson said. “I don’t think it’s going to be fun for the fans, either, because he’s going to just shoot, shoot, shoot. Which is understandable in a situation like mine. There are other guys out there. We just gotta make it happen.”

Thompson knows he will eventually come back around to the overwhelming grapplers of the division, and said he will continue to work diligently so that he doesn’t fall into the same pitfalls he did against Muhammad and Burns.

“I’ve had wrestlers in the past try to do that, but you’ve got a new wave of high-level wrestlers,” Thompson said. “Not just straight wrestlers, but they’re so well rounded. So I’ve got to go back to the drawing board and really focus on not just defending the takedown. … But being dangerous in those situations, as well. So I’m going to go make sure I’m dangerous everywhere. It was a problem on my part not evolving my skills in every area of the game.”

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