UFC 307: Can Wonderboy play the matador against the explosive Joaquin Buckley?

Val Dewar

•
UFC 307: Can Wonderboy play the matador against the explosive Joaquin Buckley? image

© Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Stephen Thompson beat Kevin Holland at UFC Orlando in a slugfest in 2022.

The upcoming bout between Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and Joaquin Buckley would once have had a different complexion entirely, but at this point in time it appears likely that Buckley will play the part of the wrestler in this contest.

‘New Mansa’ has taken down three of his last four opponents multiple times, including his most recent fight where he went 4/4 on takedowns and racked up over five minutes of control time against Nursulton Ruziboev. Ruziboev has been known for being happy to stay on his back and hunt submission attempts, but Buckley managed to remain safe and do significant damage. Thompson is not nearly the grappler that Nursulton is, but he will be ardent in trying to avoid being on his back.

For a long time it was said confidently by many people, myself included, that ‘Wonderboy' had good takedown defense. In one specific way, he does; but in a larger sense and in a pure wrestling sense, he absolutely does not.

First it was Giblert Burns. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt came into the fight with only a 35% career takedown accuracy, but he took Wonderboy down three of six times. Then Belal Muhammad did it, going seven of nine with twelve minutes of control time. People began to realize that past his first layer of impeccable distance management, Thompson had no idea how to do basic things like properly use a whizzer to defend a takedown. He also had next to nothing in the getup game against such skilled wrestlers.

He worked hard for his fight to prepare for dominant grappler Shavkat Rakhmonov, but for all that he defended the first four takedown attempts, the fifth one succeeded. Wonderboy never could stand back up and soon got submitted by the Kazakh warrior. Shavkat is not some elite wrestler, but his top game is incredible. He simply punishes opponents for whatever path of escape they choose.

While Buckley is a remarkable athlete, as is Rakhmonov, his wrestling skills are something that only developed in the last year or two. His shots are not set up all that well but he is extremely explosive. His top game can be crushing due to his physical strength, but when he tries to utilize ground and pound he leaves room for opponents to get up, being less proficient on top than men like Rakhmonov or Burns.

Against Ruziboev, his takedowns all took advantage of the Uzbek fighter’s own mistakes – mainly badly-timed flying knees – and he has not faced any fighters who can manage range like Thompson. 

This fight could easily be dominant for either man. ‘Wonderboy’ has used his karate background to dance around opponents at will and create beautiful violence at times, but he is also 41 years old. He has aged remarkably, but nobody can turn 40 without slowing down. 

However, he is the best at his style and an explosive-but-patient style like Joaquin’s may play right into the karateka’s hands. 'Wonderboy' often backs up in straight lines, so he can be caught but it takes some extra aggressiveness to do so, and usually also leg kicks. Thompson is an expert at making people miss for over-swinging, and then making them pay. Buckley could easily win, but I reckon ‘Wonderboy’ has one more virtuoso performance left in him, like what he did to Johny Hendricks, Vicente Luque, and Jake Ellenberger in years past.

Val Dewar

Val Dewar Photo

Val was initiated into Steelers Nation from the moment he was born — his first memory is a game vs. New England from when "Slash" was QB — and doing sports writing has always been a dream career for him. In 2022 he broke into the industry by writing about combat sports for Cageside Press, and now has the opportunity to continue that work with TSN as an MMA writer, as well as get his feet wet on the Steelers beat.