Thompson wins unanimously vs MacDonald at UFC Fight Night 89

At this point, he’s exceeded the max potential most projected for him when he hit the UFC and he has a very real chance to win UFC gold whenever he gets his shot.

While the UFC has yet to make an official announcement on the matter, Thompson is all but assumed to be the No. 1 welterweight contender after outclassing MacDonald for five rounds in enemy territory on Saturday night.

MacDonald is a native of Kelowna, British Columbia, and fights out of Montreal. I mean, as you saw against, when he fought Rory MacDonald – broke his nose, just kept landing it over and over again.

Simpsonville’s Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson wants a shot at UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. “I want the victor of Robbie Lawler and Tyron Woodley in NY!” Thompson, meanwhile, was also looking for a title shot, having crushed former champ Johny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger in back-to-back outings.

Meunier, making his UFC debut as a late injury replacement for Alex Garcia, spent much of the fight on his back.

Patrick Cote is most definitely in the twilight of his MMA career. MacDonald attempted a couple of heel hook takedowns but Thompson slipped loose and stuck to his measured gameplan.

The 33-year-old is now on a seven win streak after outclassing MacDonald in front of his adoring home fans. He peppered his Canadian opponent with strikes while moving out of counterpunch range.

In the past, he acknowledges being sidetracked if the ideal fight didn’t come along or at losing focus on small details. Offense came at a premium, but it was Thompson who consistently landed the more effective strikes. In the middle rounds, “Wonderboy” would crank up the aggression and bust MacDonald’s face up with heavy punches.

MacDonald, trailing on the scorecards, came forward in the third. “It kind of stinks that I had to face Rory tonight because he’s a friend”, Thompson said. “I knew he was going to shoot for the takedown, but as soon as I went out there for that first round and he got in his stance, I knew it was going to be a chess match”. The two will battle at UFC 201 on July 30th. ESPN.com also had it for Thompson, 49-46.

“Cowboy” dropped the historically durable Cote in the second and then followed it up with two more knockdowns in the third, including one along the cage that led to the finish. “Cowboy” mixed it up with his top-notch grappling and outdueled Cote when the fight was brought to the feet.

Against a significantly bigger Patrick Cote, Cerrone put on his best performance in recent memory, knocking down the former middleweight title contender three times before finishing by TKO in the third round.

It was the second fight at 170 pounds for the popular Cerrone, who is ranked No. 4 among lightweight (155-pound) contenders.

That included “that voice in my head telling me ‘OK, go down, ‘ like I did in the Robbie fight'”. Like on desktop, watching it this way requires a UFC Fight Pass subscription, which you can order or start your free trial by clicking here.