Gilbert Burns Out-Grapples Stephen Thompson To UD Victory At UFC 264
The score will finally be settled when former interim UFC lightweight champion Dustin Poirier meets former UFC & Cage Warriors champ-champ Conor McGregor for the third time tonight, Saturday, July 10, 2021, at UFC 264.
A pair of top five welterweights, Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson, clash in the co-main event inside a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Tonight’s feature bout came in the heavyweight division between promising prospects Greg Hardy and Tai Tuivasa.
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson came into tonight’s bout on a two-fight win streak, while Burns came in off a title shot defeat to champion Kamaru Usman.
We all know Thompson is one of the top five strikers in all of MMA, and we all know Burns is one of the top five grapplers in all of MMA. Burns has caught up much better on the feet than ‘Wonderboy’ has on the mat however.
Continue reading to see how this epic welterweight bout went down:
Official Result: Gilbert Burns def. Stephen Thompson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Round 1
‘Wonderboy’ throws and lands the first strike of the fight, a leg kick 45 seconds in. They’re both a bit timid to start, until Burns shoots on a single leg.
Burns drives Thompson into the fence and changes it to a double, and he kind of just stays there for a bit before switching it back to a single leg. He finishes it and secures half guard, before Thompson is able to work his way up toward the end of the first.
Round 2
Thompson is doing a much better job of keeping the range this round, though Burns is still in the fight.
Burns is trying to bully his way into range by switching stances while throwing heavy hooks, but he’s unable to secure any takedowns throughout the round.
That last bit was true, up until about 25 seconds left and Burns secures a takedown, reigning down heavy punches to finish the round.
Thompson may have had this round in the bag, but it could also be 2-zip for Burns going into round three.
Round 3
Thompson comes out with a sense of urgency to start round three and lands a nice right hand that momentarily stuns his Brazilian opponent. About a minute later, Thompson lands a beautiful spinning wheel kick that drops Burns.
Burns is right back to his feet, but eats a couple punches on his way up, before throwing back himself.
Next comes another takedown from Burns, and now chances are, that was it for ‘Wonderboy’. He isn’t going to win this fight on the mat. Burns reigns down some punches and stays busy with his attack.
This marks the third straight round that Burns ended the round on top, aside from Thompson getting up in the last five seconds of the first. Burns ends the fight throwing more heavy punches, and we go into the decision with a clear victor.
