Josh Thomson News

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020

Josh Thomson, a veteran of the Strikeforce, PRIDE, UFC and Bellator cages, has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. Thomson, 41, announced his retirement from the sport on his Weighing In podcast on Tuesday.

Tom Taylor - January 7, 2020

The UFC is widely regarded as the home to the greatest volume of high-level talent in MMA, but other promotions like Bellator, ONE Championship and RIZIN Fighting Federation are increasingly home to world class fighters of their own. Bellator analyst Josh Thomson certainly sees it that way. Responding to a fan on Twitter recently, Thomson identified a handful of Bellator champions and contenders that he believes could easily challenge the UFC champs of their respective weight classes.

Natasha Hooper - November 30, 2019

MMA veteran and fighter, Josh Thomson reveals what his teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s only kryptonite is. During an interview with BJPenn.com, Thomson discussed the undefeated lightweight champion and shared his prediction for “The Eagle’s” upcoming bout against Tony Ferguson. Having previously fought Tony Ferguson in 2015, do you give Khabib any pointers on their expected fight?

Natasha Hooper - November 22, 2019

MMA analyst and fighting veteran, Josh Thomson discusses his predictions for this Saturday’s blockbuster Bellator London event with BJPenn.com’s Natasha Hooper. During the interview, Thomson also explained why UFC President Dana White is scared of engaging in a cross-promotion fight and who he believes would win in Bellator vs UFC showdown.

Chris Taylor - December 1, 2018

The UFC will be adding a new weight class in 2019, this according to former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson. “The Punk” recently took to Twitter where he shared the exciting news.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2018

Cain Velasquez (14-2 MMA) is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. The former UFC heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, has not competed inside the octagon since July of 2016, where he defeated Travis Browne via first-round TKO at UFC 200.

Chris Taylor - October 24, 2018

Josh Thomson is no stranger to testing the free agent market, having competed under the PRIDE, Strikeforce, UFC and Bellator banners during his illustrious career. With that said, the former Strikeforce lightweight champion, Josh Thomson (22-9 MMA), has never experienced being traded by a promotion.

Tom Taylor - October 24, 2018

It’s been a long, long time since we’ve seen former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez in the Octagon. Since July of 2016, to be exact. Considering Cain Velasquez is one of the best heavyweights in MMA history — arguably the sport’s best heavyweight outright — that’s a real shame.

Russell Ess - August 15, 2017

A first in MMA history was made today after the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) had a hearing with MMA veteran Josh Thomson. Thomson met with the commission on Tuesday regarding his controversial loss, which took place back in February against Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. Freire won by KO in the second round moments after an inadvertent headbutt between the two opponents occurred, which referee Big John McCarthy failed to see during the competition. Prior to Thomson meeting with the commission in person, they had already ruled not to change the outcome of the fight to a no contest. However, Thomson insisted on meeting with them so he could make his case in person to overturn his loss.

Tom Taylor - August 15, 2017

Back in February, former Strikeforce lightweight champion and current Bellator lightweight contender Josh Thomson was knocked out in a fight with Patricky “Pitbull” Freire. Regrettably, the catalyst for the knockout seemed to be an inadvertent but illegal clash of heads. Given this controversial end, Thomson moved to appeal the loss, hoping the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) would rule the fight a no-contest. Unfortunately, the CSAC opted not to change the official result – despite the fact that Thomson was not even present at the ruling to argue his case.

Chris Taylor - August 6, 2017

Former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson (22-9 MMA) has gone 2-1 since joining Scott Coker and Bellator MMA in August of 2015. The American Kickboxing Academy staple scored a third-round submission finish (arm-triangle choke) over Mike Bronzoulis in his Bellator debut in September of 2015.

Chris Taylor - August 6, 2017

At 38-years-old, former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson (22-9 MMA) remains one of the very best 155-pound fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts. The product of American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) was most recently seen in action this past February in San Jose, where he had his two-fight win streak snapped by Patricky Freire via a controversial second-round knockout.

Chris Taylor - February 18, 2017

Bellator 172 Results: Josh Thomson vs. Patricky Pitbull A lightweight scrap between Josh Thomson and Patricky Pitbull served as tonight’s Bellator 172 main event in San Jose, California.

bjpenndotcom - September 21, 2016

The only man to ever knock out Nate Diaz came to the Stockton slugger’s defense in Diaz’s pursuit for a third fight with Conor McGregor. Josh Thomson spoke exclusively on BJPENN.com’s Rapid Fire and broke down why Conor got a rematch against Nate at UFC 202, and why Nate probably won’t be getting his rematch against Conor. “I saw it coming from a mile away. I thought Nate was gonna beat him again. If Nate had lost the first fight, they wouldn’t have given him the rematch with Conor. Which is crap for Nate. Everyone wants to see who wins best 2 out of 3. Both fights were entertaining fights. Now they’re moving Conor along to someone else because he got the win last time.”

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

When Phil Davis and Josh Thomson left the UFC as free agents to sign with Bellator, many in the MMA community were completely surprised. After fellow UFC standouts Benson Henderson and Rory MacDonald followed suit, the idea of top 10 fighter’s signing with Bellator became a far more palatable decision for both fighters and fight fans alike. Once former Strikeforce president Scott Coker took over operations for Bellator in 2014, the thought of Bellator as a potential ‘new’ Strikeforce to compete with the UFC seems more and more realistic.

bjpenndotcom - September 20, 2016

Bellator lightweight and former UFC lightweight title contender Josh Thomson was one of the first and highest profile fighters to jump ship from the UFC to Bellator last year. Now 2-0 in his new promotion, Thomson spoke exclusively to BJPENN.com Rapid Fire and discussed who he plans on fighting next and why: “I think right now, I’m close to Scott  Coker and Rich Chou, and my personal opinion, I’m gonna fight the winner of Benson (Henderson) and Michael Chandler, probably in San Jose sometime around February or March (2017). Then probably that same night (Bellator) will hold a four or six man tournament at lightweight. I know we have a lot of talent in lightweight division. The fans will see me fight the winner of Benson and Chandler. I came over to Bellator to fight the best they have.”

Russell Ess - February 18, 2016

[ooyala code=”JybWkyMTE6uhlznIz8gb_AbiZQK79u_g” player_id=”bd214e34cfad476984102de4bf5e8da2″ width=”1280″ height=”720″ auto=”true” autoplay=”true”] Check out this funny video of Josh “The Punk” Thomson attempting to hit on this “girl with really nice hair” at the Bellator 149 press conference in Houston, Texas.