Stephen Thompson declines to give retirement timeline ahead of return: “I don’t feel old”

UFC welterweight contender Stephen Thompson isn’t thinking about retiring at all.

‘Wonderboy’ has been out of action since his clash with Belal Muhammad last December. In that outing, the Karate specialist was easily overpowered en route to a decisive defeat. The loss was the second in a row for the former title challenger.

Since that time, the 39-year-old has been away from the cage. However, that’s not due to a lack of callouts. Names such as Shavkat Rakhmonov and Sean Brady have called for showdowns with the veteran. Both fighters’ callouts were rejected by Thompson.

Over the past few months, Stephen Thompson has called for fun stylistic matchups. Near the top of the list are showdowns with Jorge Masvidal and Michel Pereira. Neither fight has been made by the UFC as of now.

Many fans thought that the 39-year-old was thinking of retirement due to his recent comments. However, that doesn’t appear to be the case. On the What’s Up Everybody! podcast, Thompson discussed his UFC future.

There, Stephen Thompson revealed that he’s not thinking about retirement anytime soon. The former title challenger stated he didn’t have a timeline for hanging up the gloves. The 39-year-old also noted that he will always view himself as an active fighter.

Image Credit: UFC on Twitter

“No. I don’t know, I guess ’cause I don’t feel old. I don’t feel old so I’ve never even thought about it, and I don’t like to think about it,” Thompson said. “I don’t know, because I’m a fighter and I like to fight. There will be a day. Even then, even though I won’t have professional fights on TV, I will still be a fighter. I will still be sparring, I think. I’ll still be going in, sparring guys, training guys.” (h/t MMA News)

He concluded, “But as a career yet, I don’t think about it, don’t think of an end.”

What do you think about Stephen Thompson’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below!