Thompson puts on a show, takes decision win over Neal

The final fight card for 2020 ended with a bang as Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (16-4-1) outclassed Geoff “Handz of Steel” Neal (13-3) to grab his second straight decision victory in UFC Fight Night on Saturday, December 19 (Sunday, December 20, Philippine time) at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

The 37-year-old Wonderboy never slowed down in the entire 25 minutes of the bout and displayed his accurate and speedy striking ability while evading the heavy blows of Neal at the same time.

Neal found a bit of success on the clinch, especially in the 3rd and 4th rounds, but Thompson brilliantly sustained his range with his slick jabs and kicks, mixed up with his great footwork.

The 5th round turned into a slugfest as both fighters decided to let the fists and kicks fly in the last 5 minutes of the main event. 

But despite the apparent right leg injury he sustained in the 4th round, Thompson still managed to survive Neal’s late onslaught and answered back with a volume of punches to seal his lead in the scorecards.

With his impressive victory, Thompson puts the entire welterweight division on notice and called out Jorge Masvidal.

“Wonderboy is still here baby,” Thompson said in the post-match interview. “That title, 2021 I’m telling you, that’s gonna be mine. You watch and see.” 

“I wanna see the NMF versus the BMF, let’s make that happen. Thompson versus Masvidal II. I know he’s talking about fighting Colby Covington, but we’ll see.”

Aside from taking back-to-back wins, Thompson also dealt Neal’s first loss in his UFC career. 

In the co-main event, veteran Jose Aldo (29-7) ended his losing slump and picked up a much-needed decision victory against up-and-coming fighter Marlon “Chito” Vera (16-7-1).

Both fighters had their moments in the first two rounds as Aldo connected heavy blows in the body while Vera used his leg kicks to shut down all possible openings for the Brazilian. 

But Aldo flipped the switch in the final round and decided to bring the fight to the ground where he pinned the 28-year-old Vera for the majority of the 5th round.

This is Aldo’s first victory in the 135-pound division. Last July, the former featherweight champion had a shot at the vacant bantamweight title but got knocked out by Petr Yan in the 5th round.

Meanwhile, Rob Font (18-4) returned from his ACL injury and pulled off an upset as he knocked out No.3 ranked bantamweight contender Marlon ”Magic” Moraes (23-8-1) in the opening round of the fight.

Moraes successfully scored a takedown early in the fight, but the momentum quickly turned to the side of the Puerto Rican fighter as they headed back up on their feet. 

Font landed powerful combinations and a right uppercut before finishing Moraes with his nasty ground and pound.

This is now the third straight victory for Font, who returned to the octagon for the first time since beating Ricky Simon in December 2019. While Moraes dropped his second straight bout which both ended in a knockout.

Meanwhile, Anthony “Showtime” Pettis (24-10) took his first win streak since 2014 as he picked up a decision victory against Alex “The Great White” Morono (18-7, 1NC) to wrap up the preliminary card of the stacked fight night.

While Morono got the upper hand in the opening round, Pettis bounced back in the next 10 minutes of the bout and sealed his victory with a last-minute spinning wheel kick that stunned his opponent.

In other fights, Jimmy “The Brick” Flick (16-5) pulled off a potential Submission of the Year contender as he somehow locked in a flying triangle choke to submit Cody Durden (11-3-1) in the opening round.

Taila Santos (17-1) also displayed an impressive grappling performance against Gillian “The Savage” Robertson (9-5) to earn a hard-fought decision victory. – Rappler.com