‘Wonderboy’ Wants Nick Diaz Next

‘Wonderboy’ is still hoping to fight Nick Diaz if the elusive Stockton star returns to the Octagon in 2023 as rumored.

Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson returns to action this weekend to headline UFC on ESPN: Thompson vs. Holland, and it’s his first fight since losing to Belal Muhammad via smothering in December 2021.

One of the reasons it took “Wonderboy” so long to return was his insistence he not get stuck fighting another ground specialist that would pin him to the canvas. The UFC was hoping to match Thomson up with Shavkat Rakhmonov, which just makes us wonder what Stephen did to make their matchmakers hate him. After telling them he wanted ‘somebody that’s going to want to strike with me,’ Thompson sat out several months before finally getting booked against Kevin Holland.

Thompson is still hopeful, though, that he’ll get some preferential bookings in the future. In fact, he’s aiming to fight Nick Diaz should he get past Holland on December 3rd.

“You know, I’ve been kind of looking at this [Diaz] fight, and it’s been brought up many times,” Thompson told Submission Radio. “And every time that name comes up it’s just, it’s all smiles on my part. So, I would love to make this happen now. That would be really cool. So, if go out there and I win this fight this Saturday, get my hand raised, and that’s still an option and a potential fight for me. Yes, a hundred percent.”

Nick Diaz is rumored to be returning sometime in 2023, but the Diaz brothers are always extremely hard to pin down. The last time Diaz was booked for a bout, he came in and competed with ruptured discs in his neck. Afterwards his coach admitted he only stayed in the fight for a paycheck, which is never something you want to hear. Will Nick actually compete next year? Who knows, although if he never fought again we wouldn’t be surprised.

Thompson is just in a tough spot: the UFC welterweight division is packed with powerhouse wrestlers, and he’s a karate guy with decent but unexceptional grappling abilities. Sitting at No. 6 in the rankings, he’s surrounded by guys like Sean Brady, Khamzat Chimaev, and Shavkat Rakhmonov. Of course he wants to fight Nick Diaz instead! Who wouldn’t.

For now he’ll just have to celebrate his fight against Holland, another fighter lacking the wrestling credentials to hang at the top of the division. It’s nice getting to see two stand up fighters get to ply their trade against each other, but it’s not a trend that will continue past a fight or two.