Stephen Thompson closed his career the way only he could — with a spinning wheel kick. The 43-year-old welterweight stopped Charles Radtke by TKO at 2:54 of round three in the featured prelim of UFC 334 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden, then laid his gloves down in the Octagon. It was the final walk for a two-time title challenger, ending with the finish that defined him — and referee Marc Goddard stepping in.
“I want to leave this sport knowing that you can still be at the top of the game and still be the good guy.”
If any fighter earned a farewell like that, it is Thompson. He is the fighter the whole sport agrees on — loved by opponents, fans, and the promotion alike, because he never needed trash talk to matter. UFC.com called him "one of the nicest, most personable individuals to ever grace the UFC roster." At media day before UFC 334, Thompson said what he wanted his legacy to be: "I want to leave this sport knowing that you can still be at the top of the game and still be the good guy. Sometimes that's a breath of fresh air. You don't have to be the guy to talk trash all the time. You can be the 'NMF' (Nice Motherf*cker)."
That was never an act. Thompson has trained in karate since he was three, under his father Ray at Upstate Karate, where he still teaches the children's program and the kids call him "Mr. Stephen." Ahead of his 2018 fight in Liverpool, he said: "I'm gonna walk out with a smile on my face. I'm gonna eat 'em up with niceness." He had never been booed in his career to that point — not even fighting Rory MacDonald in Ottawa. "They still loved me," he said.
His opponents said so in public. Jorge Masvidal, before they fought at UFC 217, said: "I got respect for his skillset and his heart." Years later, Masvidal put it even more simply: "You won't find anybody who would talk bad about him." That is why the Garden crowd rose for him on Saturday night, and why Joe Rogan was in tears during the post-fight interview.
Thompson had announced before the fight that this would be his last one, telling James Lynch on November 5: "It's my last one." In the cage, he was exactly himself — grateful, joyful, thinking of everyone else first. "Tonight, I couldn't have asked to go out with something better than a spinning hook kick to the dome — let's go," he said. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry. The UFC, everyone who helped get me here – my dad, my brother, my mom, my managers ... but most of all, we wouldn't have this sport if it wasn't for the fans." Then: "If I never meet you, dance with you, train with you, laugh with you or cry with you, I love you." Rogan replied: "I love you too, man."
An undefeated kickboxer at 57-0, Thompson brought a side-on, bladed stance into the sport and made it work at the top. He debuted in the UFC on February 4, 2012, knocking out Dan Stittgen with a head kick in the first round. Two years later he stopped Robert Whittaker with punches in the first round — the first time Whittaker had ever been stopped by strikes. In July 2015 he knocked out Jake Ellenberger with a spinning hook kick. In February 2016 he stopped former champion Johny Hendricks with punches in the first round, and four months later he outpointed MacDonald over five rounds in Ottawa.
Then came the two fights that defined his championship years — both against Tyron Woodley, both classics he nearly won. At UFC 205 in November 2016, they fought to a majority draw, Woodley retaining the title after a fourth round Thompson survived on top. The rematch at UFC 209 went to Woodley by majority decision, decided by a late fifth-round surge. Thompson's verdict on his rival said everything about him: "If he beats me, he's the better man that night. If I beat him, I'm the better man that night."
The wins kept coming, and they were all unmistakably Wonderboy. He outpointed Masvidal at UFC 217, Vicente Luque at UFC 244, and Geoff Neal in December 2020. His last win before Saturday night, against Kevin Holland in December 2022, was pure Thompson: the two men agreed in the first round to keep it standing, and Thompson spent the fight apologising mid-exchange: "I was telling him I'm sorry the entire time." He won by corner stoppage in the fourth round.
He arrived at UFC 334 on a three-fight losing run, his last win before tonight coming against Holland in December 2022. That is not the story. The story is this: 18 wins, nine by knockout or TKO, eight post-fight bonuses. He retires 18-9-1 overall, 13-9-1 in the UFC, after 14 years and nine months in the promotion.
More than the numbers, he leaves behind proof that courtesy, respect, and perseverance are not weaknesses in a fight sport, but a way to win at it — and to be loved for it. "These guys that beat me, they beat me at my best," he said during retirement week. "I gave it my all, so they deserve it." That is Wonderboy: no enemies, no bitterness, just the smile, the respect, and the spinning wheel kick. Thank you, Stephen Thompson. The sport will miss you.
