UFC FIGHT NIGHT OTTAWA: Thompson vs MacDonald Extended Preview

On Saturday night (Sunday morning here in the UK) the UFC will descend into the TD Place Arena in Ottawa, Canada with one of their own headlining the card and looking to get the next title shot. The man standing in their way is Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson, Wonderboy has a high pace, electric speed which also gives him a large amount of power. On paper MacDonald has the perfect style to beat Thompson but how will it play out?

Stephen Thompson is a kickboxing wizard and I truly mean that. His amateur kickboxing record was 37-0 and his professional kickboxing record was 20-0 now that is ridiculous. The accuracy of his striking is ridiculously good, combined with his incredible knowledge and application of range he can move in and out of striking range at ease and connect with a large percentage of his shots thrown. Wonderboy is also incredibly fast giving him a lot of power.

The secret to Thompson's winning is his explosive points fighting style, the side on style gives less area for the opponent to hit and also allows Thompson to move in, slip and dodge attacks very easily. Thompson is an expert in that style and can use his side kick to threaten an attack, keep his range and also set up an attack. Thompson almost always throws combinations of 3 shots or more and extremely fast which makes is very difficult to counter because he's back out of striking range again so quickly.

The big question is can he do it against the red king Rory MacDonald. We've never really seen Thompson's takedown defence tested thoroughly and MacDonald could be the fighter to do that. It is generally agreed by a large consensus that to take and hold Wonderboy down is McDonald's key to victory. However, MacDonald is certainly ready for what Thompson has to bring, he has brought in some of the best points fighting style kickboxers we currently have, including Glory and Bellator kickboxing fighter Raymond Daniels, extremely experienced and multiple title winning points fighter Roman Brundl.

Rory MacDonald could be the man to stop Stephen Thompson getting his title and this also would give him a lot of leverage going into his talks on free agency which he seems keen on trying, if he should win then he will get the next title shot and potentially another thrilling rematch with the current welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. We don't know who's going to win tonight but we know it's going to be a superb fight!

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