Stephen Thompson belongs on the short list of the finest retirements the UFC has ever produced.
After a career stretching more than a decade, “Wonderboy” brought mixed martial arts to a close on Saturday at UFC 334 with one of the signature moments of his UFC tenure, dropping Charles Radtke at 43 years of age with a spectacular spinning wheel kick and igniting a deafening celebration inside New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Thompson took command late in the second round and opened the final chapter of his fighting life on the front foot, drilling Radtke with crisp one-twos and kicks from his distinctive bladed karate stance. Moments later, in a sequence destined for highlight reels for years, “Wonderboy” connected cleanly with a flawless spinning kick at the 2:54 mark of round three.
For that brief instant, he looked every bit the karate phenomenon who stormed through the UFC and into back-to-back welterweight title fights between 2012 and 2016.
Thompson then made his retirement official.
“I’ve been with the UFC for almost 15 years. Tonight, I couldn’t ask for better than to go out with a spinning hook kick to the dome, baby. Let’s go,” he said.
“I told myself I wasn’t going to cry. I just want to say I love you.”
“I know I’ve said this before,” a visibly emotional Thompson continued, “but if I never meet you or dance with you, train with you, laugh with you or cry with you, I love you.”
A fixture of the UFC’s welterweight division since 2012, Thompson announced himself as a threat to anyone at 170 pounds, turning his karate-rooted striking into a fast climb up the rankings. His peak arrived in 2016-17, when he twice fought Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title — battling to a draw at UFC 205 in 2016, the promotion’s first event in New York, before dropping their 2017 rematch by majority decision.
Across 23 appearances and 14 years with the UFC, Thompson defeated a formidable roster of opponents, among them former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, Jorge Masvidal, Rory MacDonald and Vicente Luque. He closes out his UFC tenure at 12-9-1 and his overall record at 18-9-1.
Even with those near-misses against Woodley, “Wonderboy” told Uncrowned this week that he leaves the sport at peace with how it all unfolded.
“I don’t have any grudges. I don’t look back wishing anything. I’ve got no regrets. Zero,” Thompson told Uncrowned’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “I’ve enjoyed the ride, and honored and blessed to be a part of it every step of the way. That’s all you can do.”