Nick Thompson vs. Jake Shields for Elite XC welterweight title

On July 26, 2008, former Wisconsin resident, Nick “The Goat” Thompson will fight in the biggest fight of his career and in front of one of the biggest US audiences ever when he fights Jake Shields for the vacant Elite XC welterweight title in Stockton, California on CBS. Thompson was asked to take the fight when on again – off again, Drew Fickett was cut from the organization last month.

Thompson is more than qualified to fight for the title and will bring a 12 fight win streak to the cage that began with UFC and IFL veteran Chris Wilson two years ago. He is the former BodogFight welterweight champion and defeated notable fighters such as Eddie Alvarez, Dustin Denes, and Ansar Chalagnov while with the organization. As of late, Thompson has been fighting in Japan for World Victory Road’s Sengoku organization. This year he defeated Brazilian fighters Fabricio Monteiro in March and Chute Boxe’s Michael Costa in June bringing his record to (36-9-1).

Thompson is a former University of Wisconsin wrestler and began his MMA career with notable Wisconsin MMA fighters Dave Strasser, Ron Faircloth, and Pat O’Malley. He currently trains at Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson. Other notable fighters in that gym include Sean Sherk, Brock Lesnar, Brock Larson, Derrick Noble, and Kaitlin Young.




Jake Shields is probably the most talented fighter that the casual fan of MMA has never heard of. He is a black belt in Gracie Jiu-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie and trains with notable fighters such as Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz, Gilbert Melendez, and David Terrell. He is the #3 ranked welterweight in the world according to WAMMA. Carlos Condit of the WEC is the only other non-UFC welterweight to hold a spot in the top ten. Nick “The Goat” Thompson is an honorable mention. Shields sports an MMA record of (20-4-1) and is riding a nine fight win streak. He is the former Rumble on the Rock welterweight champion and holds wins over former UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne, WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit, and UFC middleweight contender Yushin Okami while with that organization. After ROTR, Shields fought in K-1 Hero’s and BodogFight before finding his home in Elite XC. Since joining the organization he has racked up wins over Renato Verissimo and Mike Pyle last year.

Jake Shields was supposed to fight Drew Fickett originally for the title but the fight was postponed due to a back injury. The match was rescheduled but Fickett pulled out with a knee injury. It was later discovered that Fickett had fought only one week prior to the scheduled bout with Shields in a Rage in the Cage fight. Upon learning the news, Elite XC quickly released Fickett from his contract.

This is one of the biggest welterweight fights of the year and it brings some legitimacy to Elite XC organization. Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith will fight again for the Elite XC middleweight title. Nick Diaz will also fight Thomas “Wildman” Denny. On the undercard, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva will fight Justin Eilers for the vacant Elite XC heavyweight title. The undercard will be broadcast live on Showtime while the main card will be broadcast live on CBS.

Nick Thompson vs. Fabricio Monteiro

Fabricio Monteiro vs. Nick Thompson - Sengoku WVR
Uploaded by moltisanti87

Nick Thompson vs. Michael Costa

Sengoku III - Nick Thompson vs. Michael Costa
Uploaded by villleee

Nick “The Goat” Thompson Defeats Michael Costa at WVR – Sengoku 3

Former Wisconsin resident, Nick “The Goat” Thompson kept his streak alive and extended it to 12 straight victories with a win over Chute Boxe fighter, Michael Costa of Brazil early this morning. Prior to fight, Thompson and Costa had a small scuffle at the press conference which may have led to some bad blood come fight time. The fight took place in Saitama, Japan on the Sengoku 3 card, which was headlined with a Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Maurice Smith bout.

Thompson’s entrance was nothing short of spectacular. He sported a handlebar mustache, tiger-striped Zubaz pants, and his theme music was Kung Fu Fighting. Early on in round one, Nick Thompson was taken down by Costa but won the round with a number of submission attempts from the bottom. In round two, Thompson’s streak almost came to an end as a left hook from Costa sent Thompson crashing to the canvas. Thompson held on, recovered, and reversed Costa to get top position. After avoiding a triangle and oma plata sweep, Thompson was then able to get side control. From side control, Thompson secured the far side arm in a figure four and transitioned to north/south position for a textbook kimura that ended the bout at 4:13 in round two. With the win, Nick Thompson improves his record to (36-9-1) and Michael Costa falls to (9-4).

Thompson last defeated another Brazilian, Fabricio Monteiro at World Victory Road - Sengoku 1 in March. Following that bout, Thompson then was signed to fight for Hardcore Fighting Championships in Canada but the card was postponed and subsequently cancelled when the promotion went belly up.

Here are the full results:

World Victory Road – Sengoku 3
Saitama Super Arena
Saitama, Japan

Fabio Silva defeats Yoshiki Takahashi - KO (Knee) - Round 2 - 0:24

Rodrigo Damm defeats Jorge Masvidal - TKO (Punch) - Round 2 - 4:38

Marcio Cruz defeats Mu Bae Choi - Rear Naked Choke - Round 1 - 4:37

Sanae Kikuta defeats Chris Rice - Armbar - Round 2 - 3:54

Nick Thompson defeats Michael Costa - Kimura - Round 2 - 4:13

Kazuo Misaki defeats Logan Clark - Unanimous Decision - Round 3 - 5:00

Travis Wiuff defeats Kazuyuki Fujita - KO (Punches) - Round 1 - 1:24

Hidehiko Yoshida defeats Maurice Smith - Neck Crank - Round 1 - 2:23

Nick "The Goat" Thompson Extends His Win Streak to 11

Nick “The Goat” Thompson was able to defeat Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro in a three round decision at World Victory Road’s first show called Sengoku. I waited until the video was posted to write the article due to a couple of reports stating that the fight was controversial including MMA Weekly’s Mario Cuzic who stated, “Despite ground control and countless submission attempts, Monteiro lost the fight by decision in the judges’ eyes.”

While Monteiro did have control on a couple of occasions, Monteiro did little with it. His submission attempts were lackluster and non-threatening. Monteiro fought the match much like a pure grappler and did not attempt to strike much, if at all, on the ground or on the feet. Thompson on the other hand utilized his ground and pound skills to punish Monteiro all throughout the fight, he also spent the majority of the fight in top position despite reports stating Monteiro controlled Thompson. The judges called the fight 3 rounds to 0 in favor of Thompson. Thompson elevates his record to (35-9-1) and extends his win streak to 11 fights. This fight marks the first fight that Thompson has had go to a decision since November of 2005 when he fought Keith Wisniewski at UFC 56.

In a post fight interview, Thompson apologized for not finishing his opponent and stated that he wants to fight Hayato “Mach” Sakurai. Thompson said he considers Sakurai to be the best welterweight fighter in Japan. That dream matchup might be put on hold as Sakurai fights in the first Dream show next week against Hidetaka Monma.

To read my other articles related to Nick Thompson click on the story below:

Nick “The Goat” Thompson Signs With World Victory Road In Japan, Set to Fight Fabricio Monteiro

Nick “The Goat” Thompson Successfully Defends His Title, Will He Vacate It?

Nick “The Goat” Thompson to Defend His BodogFight Title\

To watch the fight or the post-fight interview click on the link below:

Nick Thompson vs. Fabricio Monteiro

Thompson Discusses Close Fight at Sengoku

This article was originally published on Wisconsin Combat Sports or http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 03-07-08.

Nick “The Goat” Thompson signs with World Victory Road in Japan, set to fight Fabricio Monteiro

Nick Thompson, a former Wisconsin resident, successfully defended his BodogFight Welterweight Title two weeks ago with a rear naked choke victory in the first round over John Troyer. It was the final fight on his contract with BodogFight and it was speculated that Thompson was in search for greener pastures and better opponents.

BodogFight had restructured their organization in the last twelve months since the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Lindland bout in April of 2007. They held one more pay-per-view in New Jersey last July that was largely unsuccessful despite having a well-rounded cast of experienced and recognizable fighters. They began to stop doing their own events and lost their TV deal with Ion. Next they would begin to sponsor small events and loan their talent out to these small organizations. After that it was all downhill, most of the top talent the organization had so carefully gathered to stock it’s divisions began to leave including Chael Sonnen, Eddie Alavarez, and now Nick Thompson.

It was rumored that Thompson was going to sign with new upstart World Victory Road as I stated in my previous Nick Thompson article. Thompson has indeed signed with WVR and will be fighting on March 5, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan. This is only one month since his last bout.

Nick Thompson who sports a (34-9-1) record according to Sherdog has 10 straight wins and not a single bout has gone to the judges. In addition, he has won 18 of his 19 bouts which date back to 2005. His only stumbling block was a fight to Karo Parisyan at UFC 59 in April of 2006.

Thompson will take on Fabricio “Pitbull” Monteiro who is (16-6) according to Sherdog in his next bout. Monteiro is Brazilan fighter who is part of the Gracie Barra Combat Team. He is currently riding a two-fight losing streak although he was riding five straight wins prior to that. He has fought in Japan and Brazil in notable organizations such as Deep and Shooto.

World Victory Road

This will be the first card for World Victory Road and they have signed some serious talent that has been on the shelf for a long time since the UFC ruined Pride. The biggest names include Takanori Gomi, Josh Barnett, Hidehiko Yoshida, Kazuyuki Fujita, Kazuo Misaki, Duane Ludwig and others. That is enough classic names to make any Pride fan happy and WVR is set to take on new upstart Dreams which is a collaborative effort between K-1 Hero’s and former Pride management DSE. Rumors are floating that Kevin “The Monster” Randleman is also signed to the organization.

The card according to MMA Weekly thus far:

World Victory Road: SengokuNational Yoyogi Stadium
Tokyo, Japan
03/05/2008

Takanori Gomi vs. Duane "Bang" Ludwig

Kazuo Misaki vs. Siyar Bahadurzada

Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshida

Nick Thompson vs. Fabricio Monteiro

Makoto Takimoto vs. Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos

Ryo Kawamura vs. Antonio Braga Neto

Kazuyuki Fujita vs. TBA

Stay tuned to Wisconsin Combat Sports for all news related to Nick “The Goat” Thompson. Previous news is located below:

Nick “The Goat” Thompson Successfully Defends His Title, Will He Vacate It?

Nick “The Goat” Thompson to Defend His BodogFight Title

Nick “The Goat” Thompson Successfully Defends His Title, Will He Vacate It?

Former Wisconsin resident, Nick “The Goat” Thompson successfully defended his MFC/Bodog Welterweight Title last night in Las Vegas, Nevada against John Troyer according to Sherdog.

John Troyer, the Hook n Shoot Middleweight Champion, put up a good fight slamming Thompson to the canvas and breaking his nose. It would not be enough to stop the champion, who would regain his composure and work his ground and pound from half guard. Looking to get out of danger, Troyer gave up his back and Thompson was able to finish his opponent via a rear naked choke at 3:46 in round one.

Thompson (34-9-1) has now successfully won 10 straight fights and not a single bout in that streak has gone to a decision. With BodogFight losing money, they have adopted a new strategy and business model in regards to their promoting of fights and that has caused them to lose most of their roster of fighters including Chael Sonnen, Matt Lindland, and Eddie Alvarez. It is unlikely that Thompson, whose contract is now fully exercised with the promotion, will return to the company to defend his title again.

Thompson has admitted in interviews this week, that he is currently being suited by several different companies including, the UFC (USA), Hardcore Fighting Championships (Canada), and World Victory World (Japan) as well as hearing offers from BodogFight.

It is likely that Thompson is going to sign his next contract with World Victory Road in Japan. You may have been reading about World Victory Road this week as they just held a press conference announcing the signing of Takanori “Fireball Kid” Gomi. Gomi is widely considered to be among the top lightweights in the world.

Wisconsin Combat Sports will keep you posted when news related to his signing becomes available. To read my earlier article on Nick “The Goat” Thompson, click here.

Nick “The Goat” Thompson to Defend His BodogFight Title

Former Wisconsin resident, Nick “The Goat” Thompson will defend his BodogFight Welterweight Title on February 1, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Thompson who has not fought since August of 2007 will take on John Troyer according to BodogFight’s website.

Since losing to Karo Parisyan at UFC 59 in April of 2006, Thompson has been unbeaten in his last nine bouts. In that time he has been able to avenge a 2003 loss to Dustin Denes and capture the MFC/BodogFight Welterweight title by defeating Eddie Alvarez via strikes in the second round in April. Last August, Thompson was able to successfully defend his belt by defeating Mark Weir via TKO in the first round.

Thompson’s opponent, John Troyer of Louisville, Kentucky has an unblemished MMA record of (8-0) according to Sherdog.com and won an eight-man middleweight tournament in Hook n Shoot last September. In that tournament Troyer managed to defeat all three of his opponents in the first round in a single night.

Nick Thompson is the most successful fighter to come out of the state of Wisconsin and is a former member of Dave Strasser’s Freestyle Academy in Kenosha and also trained Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Madison’s Mark Plavcan. Thompson is now a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota and trains with the University of Minnesota’s wrestling squad as well as the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy. The school has many successful and notable fighters including Sean Sherk, Brock Larson, and new MMA fighter Brock Lesnar.


Any of Thompson’s Bodog fights can be watched for free on the BodogFight website.

This article was originally published on www.wicombatsports.com on 01-16-2008