Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson hasn’t been here often but he has been here before.
The longtime welterweight contender was knocked out for just the second time in his career Saturday at UFC 307 after getting caught in the third round by opponent Joaquin Buckley.
“Again I get knocked out with an overhand!” the popular 41-year-old said in a video statement he released on social media following the fourth loss in his past five fights.
The only other time he was knocked out was in 2019 in a fight against former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis.
Thompson began his MMA career 13-1 after years of being a karate-style kickboxing world champion and earned a title shot in 2016 against then-champion Tyron Woodley. Thompson fell short of the title as they fought to a majority draw then he lost a majority decision in the immediate rematch.
“Wonderboy” has gone 4-6 over his past 10 fights, including losses to current 170-pound champion Belal Muhammad and No. 1 contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. It is unclear how many high-level UFC contests Thompson has left in him.
Meanwhile, Buckley has now won five consecutive bouts since moving down from the middleweight division two years ago.