UFC Fight Night: Stephen Thompson outpoints Rory MacDonald in welterweight fight
— -- There's no other way to say it: Stephen Thompson is ready to fight for a UFC title.
Thompson (13-1) claimed his seventh consecutive win on Saturday, as he outclassed former welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald at UFC Fight Night in TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Canada.
A former kickboxing world champion, Thompson expertly dictated range against MacDonald (18-4), keeping him off balance with punches and side kicks to the body, while thwarting his attempts to take the fight to the ground. All three judges scored the five-round bout for Thompson: 50-45, 50-45 and 48-47. ESPN.com also had it for Thompson 49-46.
Thompson is now 2-0 in 2016, with dominant wins over MacDonald and former champion Johny Hendricks.
After the win, the 33-year-old Thompson called for the winner of a July 30 title fight between current champion Robbie Lawler and No. 1 contender Tyron Woodley.
"Title belt, baby," Thompson said. "I want the winner of Robbie Lawler-Tyron Woodley."
MacDonald, 26, exited the fight with a battered face -- as he did in his previous fight against Lawler back in July 2015. The Canadian welterweight hadn't fought since he suffered a brutal fifth-round knockout loss to Lawler at UFC 189.
Saturday marked the final fight on MacDonald's current UFC contract. He will now enter negotiations on the heels of consecutive losses.
"It was a hard fight," MacDonald admitted. "It was good. I came in the best shape of my life. I can't take anything away from Stephen. He stopped all my takedowns. He was really successful. He's a tricky guy."
The 25-minute fight played out like a chess match, as Thompson used his karate style to keep MacDonald at bay. Offense came at a premium, but it was Thompson who consistently landed the more effective strikes. He caught MacDonald coming in kicks and buzzed him in the fifth round with a wheel kick to the face.
MacDonald, who trains out of Tristar MMA in Montreal, struggled to find his range throughout. At several points in the fight, he unsuccessfully attempted to dive through Thompson's legs and attack his knee with a submission. He had a little bit of success with the left hook in the third round, but Thompson took momentum back in the forth with left uppercuts and kicks.
According to Fightmetric, Thompson out-landed MacDonald in total strikes 124 to 61. MacDonald was not credited with a single takedown, although he did essentially pull guard on Thompson in the fifth, after he was bloodied and swollen over the left eye.
It was the first time since September 2014 that Thompson allowed an opponent to go the distance. It was also the first time in his career he went a full five rounds.
"I expected to come out and for it to be a little more of a war," Thompson said. "I didn't think Rory would be prepared for the angles and the speed. As soon as I met him in the middle, just by his stance, I realized this is going to be a chess match."
ESPN.com ranked MacDonald and Thompson the Nos. 2 and 4 welterweights in the world coming into the fight, respectively. Thompson, who fights out of Simpsonville, South Carolina, said he would like to fight the Lawler-Woodley winner at UFC 205 on Nov. 12 in New York.
Cerrone looks sharp, stops Cote
Former lightweight title challenger Donald Cerrone picked up his second consecutive win at 170 pounds, knocking out Patrick Cote (23-10) at 2:35 of the third round. Cerrone, 33, was sensational start to finish. He dropped Cote, who has fought as high as light heavyweight, three times -- twice with the left hook. After showing off his ground game in the first round, Cerrone chewed up Cote's legs with kicks in the second and started to hurt him with punches and kicks to the body. Cote's nose was bloodied in the middle frame, and he went down hard early in the third, despite landing a quality right hand of his own. Cerrone is 10-1 in his last 11 fights. He says he is open to fighting at either 155 or 170 pounds.
Bosse survives first round to defeat O'Connell
Light heavyweight Steve Bosse survived a first-round knockdown to edge Sean O'Connell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27). The three-round fight will surely be a candidate for fight of the year. Bosse (12-2) went down from a series of left hooks in the opening frame but came back to hurt O'Connell multiple times with right hands. A former semi-professional hockey player, Bosse stunned O'Connell (17-8) with a right hand in the second round and nearly finished him with strikes on the ground. The final round saw one back-and-forth exchange after another, as Bosse applied pressure and O'Connell fired back with effective left hands. Immediate cageside stats had the two neck-and-neck in total strikes, with Bosse landing 121 to O'Connell's 124. Bosse moves to 2-1 inside the Octagon.
Aubin-Mercier submits Gouti in Round 3
Canadian lightweight Olivier Aubin-Mercier (8-2) submitted Thibault Gouti (11-2) via rear-naked choke at 2:28 of the third round. Aubin-Mercier, who fights out of Tristar MMA in Montreal, survived several hard shots in the first round and let his offensive grappling take over in the second and third. He roughed up Gouti, of France, from top position in the second frame, before cruising to the seventh submission win of his career. The 27-year-old bounced back from a decision loss to Carlos Diego Ferreira in his last bout in January.
Calderwood defeats Letourneau in first UFC flyweight fight
Joanne Calderwood looked terrific in a third-round TKO over Valerie Letourneau in the first-ever 125-pound female fight in the UFC. Although the UFC does not promote a flyweight division, the company booked a 125-pound fight between Letourneau, a former strawweight title contender, and Calderwood. It was Calderwood who took advantage of the opportunity, knocking Letourneau out at 2:51 of the third round with a front kick to the body. Letourneau (8-5) immediately turned her back and covered up from the blow. Calderwood (11-1) was sensational throughout, as she also dropped Letourneau with a spinning backfist in the opening round. Calderwood is 3-1 in the UFC.