Stephen Thompson signed a new deal with the UFC ahead of his main event meeting with Darren Till at UFC Liverpool. But although “Wonderboy” is content with his new contract, he isn’t overjoyed about not being given a crack at the interim welterweight title, which will be on the line when Rafael dos Anjos faces Colby Covington on June 9 at UFC 225.
Thompson admitted that the UFC’s attempts to match him with Till helped him in his negotiations before he put pen to paper.
“We had some negotiations back and forth with UFC and I am happy with what’s going on in my new contract. It’s definitely an incentive to go out there and do it,” Thompson told Ariel Helwani on a recent episode of The MMA Hour.
“Of course, I’m not in the game for the money, but if the UFC are pushing something you really don’t want or that doesn’t make sense, you can kind of play the game with them a little bit. We did that and we kind of got what we wanted, so we’re gonna go out there and have some fun with smiles on our faces.”
Stephen Thompson ‘happy’ with new UFC deal, ‘upset’ by interim title snub
