Stephen Thompson walked into Madison Square Garden on Saturday having already told everyone this was the last one, and he walked out with a spinning kick knockout of Charles Radtke at 2:54 of the third round. The finish closed the UFC 334 prelims, and when it was over Thompson laid his gloves on the canvas and left them there.
The kick got different names depending on who was calling it. The UFC’s Paramount+ account went with wheel kick, Bloody Elbow with spinning heel kick, MMA Fighting with spinning back kick. Thompson settled it himself afterward. “I’ve been with the UFC for almost 15 years, I couldn’t have asked for better than a spin back kick to the dome,” he said. “I don’t care if your hands are up, a spin back kick, you’re going down.”
The fight didn’t start like a farewell party. Radtke (12-5 coming in, 5-2 UFC) shot for a takedown inside the first minute and spent a good stretch on top, then pinned Thompson against the cage in the clinch once he got up. When Thompson finally broke free, he went to the jab and played counter fighter from range. Radtke got him down again early in the second, but Thompson was back up much faster, and from there the round turned. He loosened up with straight punches and a rotating menu of kicks, and Radtke was close to wilting when the horn bailed him out.
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The third was more of the same. Thompson landed a heel kick to the face early, Radtke was visibly slowing, and the clinch became his only place to breathe. With six seconds left on the clock, the spinning kick landed and Radtke went down for good.
The moment got to people. Thompson told the crowd, “I told myself I wasn’t going to cry,” and then, “I just want to say I love you.” Joe Rogan, on the broadcast, answered with “I’m crying.” Kenny Florian pointed out on X how rarely an MMA fighter gets to retire on a performance like that, and against a younger opponent at that.
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The career
Thompson went 57-0 as a kickboxer before moving to MMA in 2010. He started 5-0, then debuted in the UFC at UFC 143 in February 2012 with a first-round head kick knockout of Dan Stittgen. A decision loss to Matt Brown came next, and after that a seven-fight win streak through Robert Whittaker, Johny Hendricks and Rory MacDonald earned him a welterweight title shot in 2016.
The Tyron Woodley fights are the part of his story people will argue about longest: a majority draw at UFC 205, then a majority decision loss in the rematch at UFC 209. He never got another title shot, though he kept beating good fighters for years, including Jorge Masvidal, Vicente Luque, Geoff Neal and Kevin Holland.
He came into UFC 334 at 17-9-1 (12-9-1 UFC) and riding three straight losses to Shavkat Rakhmonov, Joaquin Buckley and Gabriel Bonfim, the worst skid of his career and the run that convinced him to stop. He leaves at 18-9-1, 13-9-1 in the UFC.
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Most fighters don’t get to pick the ending. Thompson picked the date, the building and, judging by his face afterward, maybe even the kick, then had to survive a round of being held down by a younger wrestler before he could deliver it. That he did it with a karate weapon he’d been throwing since before most of the division started training feels right. The Woodley rematch will always nag at his record. The last 2:54 of his career won’t.
