{"id":376461,"date":"2021-02-15T07:49:42","date_gmt":"2021-02-15T15:49:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=376461"},"modified":"2021-02-15T07:49:42","modified_gmt":"2021-02-15T15:49:42","slug":"stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division&#8217;s reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.<\/p>\n<p>Usman returned to action in the main event of UFC 258 over the weekend, defending his title against No. 1 contender Gilbert Burns with a third-round TKO. With his win over Burns, Usman has now beaten four of the UFC&#8217;s top five welterweights, having also defeated Colby Covington, Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal.<\/p>\n<p>The only top-five contender he hasn&#8217;t beaten is Thompson, who currently sits at No. 5 in the rankings.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s why Thompson believes he should get the next crack at the welterweight champion.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Well seeing as how I\u2019m the only guy in the top 5 that Usman hasn\u2019t fought yet&#8230;.I guess I\u2019m next&#8230;makes sense right? Great performance <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USMAN84kg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USMAN84kg<\/a> !  <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/ufc258?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ufc258<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Stephen Thompson (@WonderboyMMA) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WonderboyMMA\/status\/1360831110591225861?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 14, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Well seeing as how I\u2019m the only guy in the top 5 that Usman hasn\u2019t fought yet&#8230;.I guess I\u2019m next&#8230;makes sense right?&#8221; Thompson wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WonderboyMMA\/status\/1360831110591225861\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on Twitter<\/a> on Sunday. &#8220;Great performance @USMAN84kg!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Stephen Thompson is currently riding a pair of decision victories over rising welterweight contenders in <a href=\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/geoff-neal-releases-statement-following-loss-to-stephen-thompson-at-ufc-vegas-17\/\">Geoff Neal<\/a> and Vicente Luque. Those setbacks separated him from a knockout loss to Anthony Pettis and decision setback against Darren Till. He&#8217;s challenged for the welterweight title twice previously, first battling Tyron Woodley to a draw in late 2016, then losing an immediate rematch in early 2017.<\/p>\n<p>While Thompson can make a reasonably sound argument for a title shot, however, it sounds like Kamaru Usman has other plans.<\/p>\n<p>After his victory over Burns, he set his sights on a rematch with Jorge Masvidal\u2014a man Thompson defeated by decision in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>Usman defeated Masvidal via decision in 2020, but many fans have been hungry for a rematch given that Masvidal accepted the fight on less than a week&#8217;s notice. Masvidal has since expressed his willingness to accept that rematch request, and the pair have been linked to coaching spots on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter, so Thompson might be out of luck.<\/p>\n<p>Who do you think Stephen Thompson deserves the next welterweight title shot?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division&#8217;s reigning champ, Kamaru Usman. Usman returned to action in the main event of UFC 258 over the weekend, defending his title against No. 1 contender Gilbert Burns with a third-round TKO. With his win over Burns, Usman has now beaten [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54430,"featured_media":299268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10132,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v19.14) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division&#039;s reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division&#039;s reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stephen-Thompson-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tom Taylor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\"},\"headline\":\"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\"},\"wordCount\":330,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Stephen Thompson\",\"UFC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2021\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\",\"name\":\"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division's reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"UFC\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA &amp; UFC News, Results &amp; Fight Videos\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"| BJPenn.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87\",\"name\":\"Tom Taylor\",\"description\":\"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman | BJPenn.com","description":"Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division's reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman | BJPenn.com","og_description":"Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division's reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/","og_site_name":"| BJPenn.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","article_published_time":"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/Stephen-Thompson-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Tom Taylor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_site":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tom Taylor","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/"},"author":{"name":"Tom Taylor","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87"},"headline":"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman","datePublished":"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/"},"wordCount":330,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Stephen Thompson","UFC"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2021","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/","name":"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman | BJPenn.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00","dateModified":"2021-02-15T15:49:42+00:00","description":"Longtime UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson believes he deserves the next shot at the division's reigning champ, Kamaru Usman.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/stephen-thompson-makes-case-for-title-shot-against-kamaru-usman\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MMA News","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UFC","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Stephen Thompson makes case for title shot against Kamaru Usman"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","name":"| BJPenn.com","description":"MMA &amp; UFC News, Results &amp; Fight Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization","name":"| BJPenn.com","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","width":600,"height":148,"caption":"| BJPenn.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/e1a3f1e5a045aeaf5b59aa1549a06a87","name":"Tom Taylor","description":"Tom Taylor is a globetrotting writer currently based in Ottawa, Canada. He is a staff writer for BJPenn.com, and also covers mixed martial arts for Fightland and Vice Sports. Follow him on Twitter @TomTayMMA.","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/tom-taylor\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54430"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/299268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}