Stephen Thompson Sidelined Due to Surgery
Not only did Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson come up short in his rematch with Tyrone Woodley for the UFC welterweight title on March 4, he sustained an injury late in the fight.
Speaking with The MMA Hour on Monday, Thompson went into when the injury happened and discussed the surgery he required to get it fixed.
“In the fifth round against Tyron, I get hit and I fall kind of like straight down, my knee kind of buckles out to the side,” Thompson said. “I ended up tearing my MCL and a short meniscus tear.
“And I didn't feel it until about after the fight, after the adrenaline, everything kind of wore off. But I knew there was something wrong with it.”
Having had prior experience with this type of injury, Thompson knew right away that he would have to undergo surgery to repair it.
“I had several knee surgeries on my left knee, so I kind of knew what that feels like,” said Thompson. “And I got an MRI. So it was a real quick surgery, nothing too crazy. I got two little incisions on my knee, in and out.”
The good news is, Thompson felt well enough after the procedure to return to the gym shortly afterward.
“Yeah, I've had knee surgery,” Thompson said. “It was about last Tuesday. To be honest with you, I was back up on it the next day hitting the bag.”
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As for a formal prognosis, while he will miss some time, Thompson should be ready to return to action before the summer is out should the UFC have an opening for him.
“(The doctors told) me 4 to 6 weeks,” Thompson said of his recovery time.
When he does return, Thompson will look to rebound from the loss to Woodley and hopefully lobby for a third match against the current welterweight champ. He'd like nothing more than to even up their series at a win for each with one draw between them.
