Stephen Thompson is done after Saturday. The 43-year-old two-time welterweight title challenger confirmed on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show” that his UFC 334 prelim against Charles Radtke at Madison Square Garden will be the final fight of his career. While explaining why, he let slip something he’d kept completely out of public view. He’s a dad.
“I have a baby girl, and obviously that changes a lot of things,” Thompson told Uncrowned, adding that she had just turned five months old. He said he’ll keep teaching martial arts and training, but that being home with her shifts how he thinks about the job.
The family news wasn’t the only reason. He was blunt about where he sits in the division. “No. 1, I don’t see the title anymore,” he said. “I mean, these guys are just young studs coming up. I’m not trying to get hurt.”
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Then there’s the wear and tear. Thompson hasn’t fought since a split decision loss to Gabriel Bonfim in July 2025. It was a razor-close fight that plenty of people, Thompson included, thought he won. He split his shin in that bout. He was back training about three months later, and then his knee flared up. After that he had to get his neck checked. “The body’s not healing up like it used to,” he said. “I’ve had numerous knee surgeries, so it’s just kind of all adding up at this point.” For this camp he leaned harder on recovery and cut back on hard sparring. He said he feels great heading into fight week.
The numbers back up the timing. Thompson is 1-5 across his last six UFC appearances. The full résumé still holds up, though. He debuted at UFC 143 in 2012 with MC Hammer walking him to the venue and Georges St-Pierre in his corner. At UFC 205 in this same building, he fought Tyron Woodley to a majority draw for the welterweight title. He got dropped repeatedly in the fourth round and popped his head out of a deep guillotine while the Garden lost its mind. The rematch went to Woodley by split decision. Two cracks at the belt, and both times he was right there.
He doesn’t carry any of it around. “I’ve got no regrets. Zero,” Thompson said. “I’ve enjoyed the ride, and honored and blessed to be a part of it every step of the way.”
Thompson opens as a -140 favorite over Radtke (+118), per MMA Junkie’s odds. The prelims stream at 7 p.m. ET on Paramount+. After that, he plans to keep teaching at his school in South Carolina and pick up broadcast work for the UFC. He didn’t fully slam the door, either. Once his daughter is older, he said a striking match could tempt him, even in his 50s. “It’s the wrestling and jiu-jitsu that mess me up,” he said.
My take: MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew called retiring against “Chuck Buffalo” a weird way to go out, and he’s right. But a scrappy matchup in the Garden might suit Wonderboy better than a ceremonial layup would. The Bonfim fight showed the timing and the distance management are still there, and Radtke is going to walk forward into them. I want one more blitz-and-exit sequence, one more side kick snapping off before the other guy has set his feet. The last time Thompson fought in that building, he was escaping a guillotine to a standing ovation. Saturday he gets to leave on his own terms.
