EXCLUSIVE | Stephen Thompson on Nick Diaz being offered Woodley fight “That is absolute crap”

In November of 2016, the UFC’s number-one ranked welterweight Stephen Thompson fought divisional king Tyron Woodley to a majority draw. With this result, Woodley held on to the welterweight belt, while Wonderboy seemed to have guaranteed himself another shot at the champ.

Apparently, however, Thompson’s being given an immediate rematch with Woodley is far from a sure thing. In late December, our very own Chris Taylor reported that Nick Diaz had been offered a fight with Woodley and turned the opportunity down.

Wow! So Nick Diaz has turned down fights with both Conor McGregor and @TWooodley. Who are you waiting for @nickdiaz209? #UFC209

— Chris Taylor (@CTaylor_96) December 29, 2016

In a subsequent interview on BJPenn.com’s Rapid Fire, Woodley confirmed to Taylor that this fight with Diaz was briefly in the works, but failed to come to fruition.

On Thursday’s edition of Rapid Fire, Taylor broke the news of the UFC’s attempt to construct a Woodley-Diaz bout to Stephen Thompson himself. Needless to say, the recent welterweight title challenger was not happy.

“I wasn’t aware of that at all,” Thompson said of this attempted Woodley-Diaz showdown. “You know I had heard rumors but to know that it actually happened I think that is absolute crap. Here’s a guy, he has a name yes, but he hasn’t fought in how long? You know. His last fight [Anderson Silva] was well over a year ago. So to me that is bull crap. I think it is just crap.”

Taylor then added fuel to the fire by reminding Thompson that Diaz’s last win occurred all the way back in October of 2011, when he defeated BJ Penn, who is now fighting at featherweight.

“Yeah man, what is the UFC playing at? It is kind of disappointing to hear that now you know,” Thompson said. “That Nick was actually offered a title fight against Tyron. I mean come on. There are a lot of guys who are way more deserving. Even if I don’t get the fight, there is a lot of guys way more deserving of a shot at the title like Demian Maia. Who should definitely be next up to get that opportunity if not me. But yea that news is just disappointing. It is what it is though. It is politics baby. I’m just going to focus on what I need to do and that is train to become world champion, hopefully at UFC 209.”

Do you think Stephen Thompson deserves the next shot at Woodley? Sound off, PENN Nation!