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00:00Welcome back to Against the Cage.
00:01Scott Fontana here again with Stephen Wonderboy Thompson,
00:05who will fight for the final time in his illustrious UFC career
00:09against Charles Radke at UFC 334 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.
00:14Now, Stephen, this is the fourth time that you're fighting in this building.
00:17It's kind of like a home place for you, even though you're from South Carolina.
00:22You represent South Carolina.
00:23It's been a while, though.
00:25It has, actually.
00:26Yeah, it's been a while.
00:27I think my last one was Vicente Luque.
00:30Here at MSG, but I spent a lot of time in Long Island
00:32with Chris Weidman, living in Long Island, Ray Longo, Matt Serra.
00:36So this is kind of like my whole way from home.
00:38Was it like kind of something you were able to influence
00:40to get the opportunity here, or did this just come your way?
00:42It just came my way.
00:43I wanted to get in the octagon a little bit sooner,
00:46but injuries, neck, back, you know, my knees.
00:50But it just so happened.
00:51Everything started feeling good over the summer,
00:53and this opportunity came up, so I had to jump on it.
00:57And you're a new father, too.
00:58Were you hoping to kind of get it in before that happened?
01:00I mean...
01:01Or did you even know yet?
01:02No, we knew at the time,
01:04because we knew last October that we were having a young one.
01:09So it just happened.
01:11You know what I mean?
01:11I wasn't trying to shoot for anything.
01:14It just kind of fell into my lap.
01:15Gotcha, gotcha.
01:16Are we going to have a Tenacious D sighting, potentially,
01:19in that square garden?
01:20Man, I wish.
01:21You know what?
01:21I don't know if you know that Jack Black and Kyle Gass
01:24walked me out to my fight with Shotkot Rockmanov.
01:28Super cool, man.
01:29They ended up bringing me out to one of his concerts in North Carolina.
01:32Epic.
01:32These dudes can jam, for sure.
01:35So I've always been a Tenacious D fan.
01:36Of course, of course.
01:37Now, look, you had a very big moment at Madison Square Garden.
01:41It wasn't quite a victory,
01:42but you were the original one half of the first fight of the night
01:46ten years ago, almost today, at Madison Square Garden.
01:50What do you remember about that night?
01:51Take me through kind of the evening for you
01:53and just how it was to be a part of that really special night.
01:56To be honest with you, in my eyes,
01:58it is still the greatest card of all time.
02:01I mean, first fight MSG,
02:02it broke all Madison Square Garden records.
02:04Me and Tyron Woodley, we fought to a draw,
02:06which is like the first time that's ever happened in a title fight.
02:09And it was just awesome.
02:11And having Conor McGregor there,
02:12having Chris Weidman there as well,
02:14we fought on the same card.
02:15It was just an epic night, man, epic night.
02:17And one of the things that I remember during this fight
02:20was when Tyron Woodley ended up knocking me down
02:22like three or four times.
02:23Next thing you know, I'm in this deep guillotine.
02:26And it's crazy what you say when you're out there.
02:29I literally said this.
02:31I was in this, I could barely talk.
02:32I'm like, all these people came to watch me fight.
02:34I said, I'm not tapping.
02:36And I remember at that point, his arm started to get tired.
02:38I pulled my head out and just started raining down punches.
02:41But another memory was going back and watching that fight.
02:44The whole place erupts, man.
02:47Whenever I pulled my head out, it was epic.
02:49Yeah.
02:50Now, I don't see you had,
02:51you've had a little bit of like outside the cage history too with Tyron
02:54because you guys were co-stars on Cobra Kai.
02:56Yes.
02:57Co-stars.
02:57It was a smaller role, but it was a cool role, right?
03:00Yeah, it was super cool.
03:00I was so co-star.
03:01Did you enjoy like being around him in that?
03:03We had a blast, man.
03:04Yeah.
03:04We, we.
03:05What's up, bruh?
03:06I got my man Gene Silva over here waving at Gene Silva.
03:10Yeah, dude.
03:10Awesome.
03:11But yeah, yeah, dude.
03:12We, we're good friends, man.
03:13Spend some time on Cobra Kai, the set of Cobra Kai.
03:16I was supposed to have a bigger part in it, but I ended up fighting Bala Muhammad and I
03:20wasn't able to make it out for the big fight scene.
03:21But we spent literally all winter in London together for the new Roadhouse movie.
03:26So me, MVP, Dustin Poirier, a bunch of other guys.
03:29So he's awesome, brother.
03:31Yeah.
03:31That's really great.
03:32Now, obviously you're fighting in New York again, the fourth time.
03:35So you've kind of seen the evolution of maybe fighting in New York.
03:37And I understand it kind of went through some growing pains in the earlier years.
03:41Like how have you kind of seen New York's handling of MMA cards develop?
03:45Man.
03:45It's behind the scenes a little bit.
03:47I mean, like, it's like no other, to be honest with you.
03:49I mean, I've fought all over the world, but there's no place like Madison Square Garden.
03:53I mean, number one, the people, the athletes, the musicians, the artists that have performed
03:59at MSG, knowing that I'm one of them now is super cool.
04:01But I mean, it's just epic.
04:03The energy that's involved with everything going on.
04:06I don't know if it's just because everything is so close and just you can feel the energy
04:09because everybody's so close together.
04:11But it's like no other fight car, no other venue that I've ever performed in my life.
04:18But it's growing here in New York City, obviously.
04:20Honestly, it's evolved since UFC 205, and it's just gotten better.
04:25And you've obviously not lost in this building either.
04:28You had the draw, and then you followed up with two victories.
04:31You beat Jorge Masvidal.
04:32You beat Vicente Luque, we just mentioned before.
04:35You've got one more opportunity to kind of stave off and stay not perfect, but stay unbeaten
04:40in this building.
04:41Charles Radke, when his name came across, what did you think?
04:44I thought it was going to be an epic fight.
04:45I knew that Charles Radke is going to bring it every time he steps out in that octagon.
04:50He's got good boxing.
04:51He's got good takedowns, good takedown defense, and he trains with Bala Muhammad.
04:54So I know at some point the takedown is going to happen, but I'm prepared for wherever the
04:59fight goes.
05:00So I know he's going to bring it, and we're going to put on a show.
05:02Now, this is obviously because it is your last fight.
05:05There's a couple of things that creep in that are a little bit different, probably on the
05:09mental side, right?
05:10Number one, you are a new father, and I know that's kind of really changed your perspective
05:13in a lot of ways, right?
05:15And number two, there is no other fight.
05:17You're not really living to fight another day.
05:19You're living to live another day.
05:21How does that change kind of the way you approach this?
05:24Actually, it gives me more, it gives me confidence going out there.
05:28It gives me more ambition to step out there and give it 110%.
05:32Everybody keeps asking me, you know, what is it like?
05:34What is it like?
05:35What are the emotions leading up to this?
05:37And to be honest with you, I'm treating this as every other fight.
05:40You know what I mean?
05:41I'm trying to keep the emotional side out of it.
05:43So I'm focused on Radke.
05:44He's trying to do me bodily harm.
05:46I'm trying to come out on a win, on a dub, and perform the best that I can for the
05:50fans
05:50out there at Madison Square Garden.
05:51So that's my focus for this.
05:53And obviously, you've talked a little bit about kind of the influences for why you're at this
05:57point in your career, why you're deciding now is the time.
06:00But also, I've talked to fighters before, fighters who are still thinking they want
06:04to keep fighting.
06:04They still enjoy the process, right?
06:06Yeah.
06:06It's that process that they will often point to is like, as long as I can still enjoy
06:10training, enjoy showing up, getting ready for a fight, they're going to keep going.
06:14How is the process for you at this point?
06:16Is it still good or is it kind of like, okay, maybe I am moving beyond it?
06:18No, you know, I'm happy for that next chapter of my life.
06:22I mean, having a baby girl definitely changes your mindset.
06:26You know, I'm a lifelong martial artist like a lot of these other guys out there.
06:29I train every day.
06:30I still train with my amateurs and pro guys that are coming up, and I'll still be there
06:35for them every step of the way.
06:37Now, you know, I still feel like I can compete out there with the best.
06:41I mean, look what I did against Bonfim last fight.
06:43Super controversial.
06:44I thought I had won it, and he's crushing it right now.
06:47So just knowing-
06:48And you've had a few of those.
06:49Yeah, I have, man, but the thing is, like, I'm still competitive enough to go out there
06:55and compete with the top brass, but it's time to move on, you know?
07:02Like I said, that little one changes your mindset, and I don't want to be broken in five years
07:07and 10 years.
07:08I want to still be able to ride bikes, go hiking, you know, and spend time with her and
07:12be able to have the body to do so.
07:14Now, we kind of alluded to this.
07:16You're, well, not, I guess we did really, but the idea that you're at the end, right?
07:21A lot of fighters can't really look back at some of those times.
07:23You were giving me a little bit of, like, looking back at that fight with Tyron, but
07:27you've done so much.
07:28You know, you came this close to winning that title a couple times.
07:32You have a bunch of knockouts.
07:34You are known as the nicest MF-er in the sport.
07:37What do you want people to kind of come away from Steve and Wonderboy Thompson and say,
07:40man, that's what I remember?
07:41Yeah, I want everybody to remember that, number one, I was one of the best strikers
07:46to ever step out in the octagon to do it.
07:48Two, I want to be known as a good martial artist, but not just a good martial artist,
07:52but a good human being as well.
07:53That you don't have to have that bad guy persona to go out there and be the best that
07:57you can be and be in the UFC for almost 15 years and be at the top for a very
08:02long time.
08:03Like, just be true to yourself.
08:05And it's funny you say that because of who's on this card, too, near the top.
08:08Because I think you can probably even agree, it's kind of almost counter to what you just
08:12said.
08:13Right, right, right.
08:13Exactly, exactly.
08:14I mean, some guys have changed their career off that.
08:17But on the other side of that, you don't have to have that.
08:20If you got the mindset and the competitiveness to go out there and do what you got to do
08:23in the octagon and be exciting, you can make it.
08:26And sometimes it's a breath of fresh air.
08:29I'm going to ask you one more question.
08:30This is not really related to you exactly, but something I think you're interested in.
08:35The new Street Fighter movie just came out.
08:37I know you're a Street Fighter, guys.
08:38Yes.
08:39I got to get your thoughts.
08:40Obviously, Volkanovsky, Alexander Volkanovsky is in the movie as well.
08:43I know you must have seen it.
08:44What did you think?
08:45Why was I not invited to be a part?
08:48Come on.
08:49We'll get to that in a second.
08:50What's that kin than me, all right?
08:52No, but I thought it was epic.
08:54The fight scenes are really awesome.
08:55The way they went about it, the cinematic aspect of it was just outrageous.
09:00It was literally like a video game.
09:01You know what I mean?
09:02So, yes, sometimes the fight scenes were over the top, but that's what Street Fighter is.
09:06So that's what made it so special.
09:09To interject myself a little bit, too, it felt very much like the way the people who make
09:13the games, because it's very zany and the door is kind of crazy.
09:16It felt just like that, too, right?
09:18It did, man.
09:18It did.
09:19And that's what I think that was their main focus to making this film was to be accurate
09:25with the video game.
09:26And it was awesome.
09:26And let's correct the oversight here.
09:28Let's say maybe we'll advocate for you to get yourself in the sequels, which I think
09:32they're trying to make them, right?
09:33There are some roles already cast, but there are some openings.
09:36I want to know who you think you might be best suited for that's not already in there.
09:40I know, man.
09:40That's the thing.
09:41I always saw myself as like Ken.
09:43You know what I mean?
09:44Sure.
09:44The karate guy.
09:45You know?
09:46I don't know, man.
09:47I don't know.
09:49Because that's the only thing.
09:50I'll give you one, but I want to hear you first.
09:51I want to hear you first.
09:52I have no idea, brother.
09:53I have no idea.
09:54Ken was always it, but he's already been casted.
09:56So, I don't know.
09:58How do we feel about Guile's buddy, Charlie Nash?
10:01Oh, that's actually...
10:02Dude, that's actually a freaking good one.
10:05Charlie Nash, come on, Street Fighter.
10:08Bring it.
10:08I'm here.
10:09Make it happen.
10:10All right, make it happen.
10:11Charlie Nash, one more time in the octagon this weekend.
10:14Let's go.
10:15Let's go.