Stephen Thompson Broke His Hand At UFC 244
The fighter’s victory at UFC 244 didn’t come without consequences, as Thompson suffered a broken hand at the event.
“It’s definitely broken. The knuckle’s kind of back here (points to the middle of the back of his hand). So I don’t know if you can see it, but it’s kind of soft and gooey right here, but back here it’s fairly hard,” Thompson said at the post-fight press conference (via Alexander K. Lee of MMA Fighting). “I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure it’s broken. It’s not the first time I’ve had to do it. When I fought [Jorge] Masvidal back here at [UFC 217], I ended up breaking both my thumbs in the first round and I have to keep fighting, the other two rounds is pretty rough. But I done it once, I can do it again, so that was kind of what I was—I wasn’t really thinking, I was just doing. If you’re thinking out there, it’s too slow, so if it hurt, oh well, but it did kind of slow me down in that third round because everytime I threw it, I swear I hit this guy as hard as I could, he just kept coming forward. I don’t know how many times I knocked him down, but tough, golly.”
There is no word yet on how long Thompson could be out of action for, but more should be known as the fighter undergoes medical treatment.
Thompson ended a two fight losing streak at UFC 244, but the fighter knows that a potential third straight loss could’ve ended his UFC run.
“I would say a lot. After a third loss, it wouldn’t be pretty good, especially in the UFC’s eyes,” Thompson said. “I’ve seen guys get booted out for less than that. So all this stuff is going through your head, but for me that’s just like, man, that shouldn’t be in my head. That negative stuff shouldn’t be there. So every time that would pop in my head, I would fill it with something positive. ‘I’m gonna go out there and win this thing.’ ‘I’m gonna end this fight with my hand raised.’ So that’s what I was trying to do going into this fight. Actually walking out there’s so much that pops in your head. ‘You’re gonna die!’ That’s literally what you’re thinking. I’m wishing like an astroid comes down and blows the place up so I don’t have to fight. All this stuff is going through your head, it’s crazy. I’ve got close to almost 80 fights and every time I step out there it’s the same. But I think when that goes away, maybe I need to hang it up.”
It is unknown at this time as to what is next for Thompson, but more should be known as his broken hand heals up.
